Survivor
by TheUncurableLlama
Summary: After a deadly outbreak sweeps through the nation, and a disastrous ending to her previous group, hardened 15 year old Alice decides she is better off surviving on her own. Things take an unexpected turn, and she finds herself the outsider in a new group. Exists in the same universe as my other series, Alone Together(and thus the tv series).
1. Alone

**Author's**** Note:** Hey guys, I'm _really_ excited to start writing fanfiction. This is my first series, so take it easy on me. The series greatly improves from the second and third chapter onwards, so I recommend sticking around until then if you're not satisfied with the first. If you're not sure if reading this chapter is worth your time, let the reviews speak for themselves.

UPDATE: I've revamped the opening chapters of the series, most of them kind of sucked, in my opinion. Try and give them some grace, they were the beginning of my writing, so they weren't exactly masterpeices. I apologize for the cringe-worthy first couple parts, it took me a bit to get on my feet with writing.

* * *

[Hi, my name is Alice Clutch. I'm 15 years old, and I'm a survivor of the outbreak. This is my story. I've been an orphan all my life, it was little more than a week after I moved into my new foster home that the outbreak hit. My foster parents died. They were nice people. I barely knew them. I was found by a few survivors and taken to a refugee camp, but we were never truly safe. Things began to fall apart. One by one our numbers dwindled until there were only a few of us left. My group was camped at a warehouse, one that _I_ suggested we camp in. We were overrun, and two of us died. They blamed it on me, as if it was somehow _my _fault they died. Things were never the same after that. Now only two of us, including me, are left. The other is a woman named Iris. She had a husband, Lou. He was killed in the warehouse attack, and she blamed me, just like the others did. She hates me. She always will. Long story short, I'm a survivor, just like everyone else.]

SIX MONTHS AFTER THE OUTBREAK.

Alice put down her large green spiral ringed composition notebook, which she recently decided to use as a journal. Iris sat on a log next to the campfire, staring blankly into the distance, as if some distant object captivated her. She rarely ever talked to Alice nowadays. Iris was a thin, black-haired woman with dark eyes. She had gotten progressively slimmer since the outbreak, as food became more and more scarce. Iris was missing her left arm, after being bit a few weeks prior, forcing Alice to amputate it.

"Iris...there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it." Said Alice, softly. "We've been on our own ever since Hal died, and we haven't had a real conversation since..since Lou-"

"There's nothing to say." Said Iris coldly, cutting Alice off.

"Please Iris...just talk to me." Said Alice, her voice cracking. "I'm tired of doing this alone."

"...Then don't do it at all."

Iris' voice showed no emotion.

"God dammit Iris, what happened at the warehouse wasn't my fault!" Exclaimed Alice, unable to bear it any longer.

Iris didn't respond.

"I'm going to find some more wood for the fire." Said Iris, finally breaking her dreamy glance into the distance.

Iris walked off, leaving Alice alone. There was nothing but deafening silence, as Alice sat sorrowfully on a rock next to the dwindling fire. Alice finally broke, as tears began to stream down her face. Iris' steps faded away, as she walked out of eyesight.

Something snapped inside Alice. She immediately, almost unconsciously, packed her things and ran off into the forest, away from the campfire. Away from Iris. She kept running, minute after minute, nonstop. Everything became a blur, as she became lost in the sound of her own trotting footsteps.

Eventually she collapsed on the moist forest floor, unable to run any longer. She breathed the brisk autumn air, as leaves fell from the trees onto her. It was oddly peaceful.

She laid there, having finally run out of energy. She thought about her life before the outbreak. The foster homes. The nice people at the orphanage that took care of her. Then she thought about the outbreak. The refugee camp. The warehouse. Lou. All the people that died. Alice became lost in thought.

A raspy moaning noise drew closer and closer. _A mutant_, as Alice and her group called them. Alice slowly stood up, and pulled the thick baseball bat she used as a weapon out of her hiking backpack.

One swing to the head was all it took. The mutant fell to the ground dead, blood drenching the autumn leaves. Alice gathered her things, and kept running.

[I just couldn't stay there with Iris any longer, I knew I was better off on my own, although I wish it hadn't taken so long to realize. I wasn't the scared little girl who used to rely on others to survive. Not anymore. I never saw Iris again.]

* * *

TWO MONTHS LATER.

Alice awoke up inside the large green-sheeted bed that inhabited the house she looted. The bright sunlight shined through the room window, and her eyes took a few seconds to adjust. Her knife sat on the dresser next to her head, with her baseball bat on the floor a few feet away. She didn't have any guns, after all, she didn't even know how to _use_ one.

She sat up, groggily rubbing her eyes. A few minutes later, she finally found the strength to get out of bed. She always slept in her clothes, so there was no need to get dressed. She was hungry, but there was nothing to eat aside from a few oranges she found on a tree nearby.

She walked into the restroom, to see her reflection. She sighed, struggling to remember what she once looked like, imagining her old self in the murky mirror. Her once piercing ghostly blue eyes had darkened since she had last seen herself, now grayish and bleak. Her blonde hair, which was once dyed pink, was now dirty and unkept, all traces of the dye having faded away completely. She liked to keep her hair short, and cut it with her knife every week or so.

"Great, now I look like a boy," Said Alice to herself. "...I _really _need to stop talking to myself."

Those were the first words she had spoken in days. She had become quite accustomed to being alone, and was almost relieved to be isolated. Most people were dangerous anyways.

She was tempted to use some of her water in one of her water bottles to pat down her hair, but immediately dismissed the notion. She was low on supplies, and water was no exception. After all, there was no one around to notice her hair anyways.

For the first time in a while, she was bored. She'd decided to look for supplies to keep herself busy. She put her knife in her pocket, and picked up her baseball bat. After equipping her backpack, she walked downstairs, into the cluttered living room. Pictures on the wall told a story of a once happy family, one who used to inhabit the home.

She opened the door, to find that very few mutants roamed the streets. It was a bright day, and she held her left hand up to shield her eyes, with her baseball bat in the right. She turned instinctively away from the sun, and began walking in that direction through the abandoned city.

She reached a red, two-story house, with chipped paint, and a large wooden door, with a dusty pane of stained glass in the middle. The door was unlocked, unlike most in the neighborhood. She walked inside, to find that the place was ransacked.

Someone else had been there, probably recently. A dead corpse lay on the ground, with a gunshot wound on it's head. _Very _recently. The distant moaning noise she had become so accustomed to over the past months was disrupted by the sound of faint chatter in the distance, startling her.

Someone was outside. Alice quickly ducked behind the couch, and listened carefully.

"Yeah, I searched pretty much all the houses here, I'll be heading back up soon." Said a male voice, which was moving towards the house. He was talking to someone.

"Well, we need those supplies, so get up here as soon as you can. Toby's being a bitch about things, as usual." Said a quieter male voice, which sounded oddly robotic.

"Tell him to get his head out of his ass," Said the man, "Or find his _own_ supplies."

He was talking on a walkie-talkie. She faced an inevitable decision. Either reveal herself to the stranger, and risk trouble with him or his group, or stay hidden and hope to be able to leave the area undetected.

The man was just outside the window of the house. Alice took a deep breath, and stood up into the view of the stranger. He immediately saw her through the window, and was startled. He jumped backwards, and drew his handgun.

"Great," Thought Alice. "Just great. He has a gun, and I might as well have a _fucking butter knife_."

"He-hello? Who are you?" Asked the man.

"I was gonna ask _you_ the same question." Alice stepped out of the house, next to him.

"Um, I'm Dick." The man backed away, keeping his gun trained on her.

"Alice."

Dick was a tall, handsome man with a chiseled face, and jet black hair messily slicked backwards. He was a thick, muscular man, and wore a white tank top, with gray jeans. His light brown eyes glistened in the sunlight, the brightness obviously irritating him. He looked to be at least three years older than Alice.

"I heard you talking on the walkie-talkie, I'm not here to cause any trouble."

"Neither am I." Said Dick. "I say we just both walk away, and forget this happened."

"Agreed."

A mutant, less than thirty feet away from Dick, stumbled towards him and Alice.

"I got it." She said, as Dick noticed the mutant.

Alice calmly walked towards the mutant, and raised her baseball bat. She swung once, hitting the mutant in the neck, knocking it to the ground. After two more rage-filled swings, the mutant was dead(again).

"Nice," Complimented Dick. "Well, um, thanks."

"Nice meeting you."

"You too."

Alice began to walk away, back towards the house she camped in the night before, to gather her supplies and leave. She had second thoughts, but logic put down any idea of joining _any_ group, especially one she wasn't invited to.

"You know- You don't have to leave. My group has a safe place up in the mountains, we're a bit low on supplies, but-" Begins Dick.

"No thanks. I think I'll be alright on my own."

Dick remained silent, as Alice walked further and further away.

Suddenly, a voice came out of his walkie-talkie. "Dick? Are you there? Heloooo?" Asked the voice.

"Uh, yeah. I'm here." Said Dick, as Alice stopped walking away. "I met a woman in the town, asked her if she wanted to join the group."

"Wait, what?"

"A woman. Her name's Alice."

"And you just _asked her to join the group_?"

"Well, yeah. Pretty much."

"What'd she say?"

"Said no, she's leaving right now."

"Wait a second, can I talk to him?" Asked Alice, beginning to walk back towards Dick.

"Um, sure." He said, handing her the walkie-talkie.

"Hello? Um, who is this?" Asked Alice.

"He can't hear you, you have to push this button first." Said Dick, pointing to a large black button on the walkie-talkie.

A slightly embarrassed Alice repeated her words, this time while pressing the button.

"Um, I'm Riley. I'm guessing you're Alice." Said the voice on the walkie-talkie.

"You guessed right," Replied Alice. "You say you have a camp. How many people are in your group?"

"...Six, including me and Dick," Riley took a few seconds to count. "If Dick says it's alright, then you can stay with us."

It took Alice a moment to think. Either join the group, or leave on her own. If Dick wanted to hurt her, he would've already. And something about Riley's deep, vibrant voice through the walkie-talkie disarmed her. Still, she was uncomfortable being around other survivors. Other people made things complicated, and she enjoyed the simplicity of life nowadays.

[I wasn't quite sure about these people. They seemed harmless, but I'd seen people like them before. They weren't the first "nice" survivors I'd encountered. If there was anything I'd learned in my time alone, it's that trust is overrated. Frankly, I was content being alone. But, I knew I had to take a risk eventually. After all, I lived in a _world_ of risks.]

"Fine." Said Alice at last. "If it's okay with you, I'd like to at least see your camp."

"Fine by me." Said Dick.

"Then I guess it's settled." Said Riley, just before his voice stopped coming through the walkie-talkie. "I'll see you later."

"C'mon, it's about a five to six hour hike to our camp, we live in a set of cabins up on Mt. Hall." Said Dick, as he lead her towards the nearby mountain.

* * *

It didn't take long for her and Dick to begin their trek up the mountain, Alice constantly eyeing the gun tucked into a holster on his belt. Alice's mind was racing. Should she trust these people? Would she truly be safe at their camp? Did she stand a better chance alone, as she had been for so long? She dismissed such thoughts, and simply continued walking.

[That day was a start of a journey for me. A _long_ one.]

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, thanks for reading. I love reviews, so leave one if you can, thanks!


	2. Cabins

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, because of all the positive reviews on Chapter 1, I decided to post another Chapter earlier than I had initially planned. Also, be on the lookout for Chapter 3, it's my favorite chapter so far(I'm currently working on Chapter 5).

UPDATE: I've revamped the opening chapters of the series, most of them kind of sucked, in my opinion. Try and give them some grace, they were the beginning of my writing, so they weren't exactly masterpeices.

* * *

Alice panted heavily, after finally arriving at a parking lot with Dick up in the mountains. There was a trail branching off from the parking lot, leading up into the mountain. No tents or anything in sight.

"_This_ is your camp?" Questioned Alice, looking around.

"No, there's a set of cabins up the trail," Replied Dick, sitting down on the slanted curb, "Let's rest here for a minute or two before we go to the others." Alice sat down beside him.

"So, are you the leader of your group?" Said Alice, trying to avoid awkward silence.

"Not really," Dick brushed his moist hair backwards. "I'm usually the one who goes on supply runs. We're kind of a team of sorts, there's not really any leader."

"So you guys use walkie-talkies to communicate with each other while on supply runs? ...Smart."

Awkward silence. _Really_ awkward silence.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to the group you were with before?" Asked Dick, suddenly. "I mean, _if you had a group_."

Alice was caught off-guard.

"They're obviously not around anymore, so does it really _matter_?" Said Alice, more rudely than she intended.

"Guess not." Dick shrugged. "Let's keep moving."

Dick and Alice both stood up, and continued down into the trail, towards the cabins. The ground was dusty a riddled with sticks, but it seemed to be safe, at least. Sunlight shot through the trees, casting beams of yellow-ish light onto the ground she treaded on. The trail was heavily shaded, sheltered by thick tree branches and mountainous hills.

Eventually they reached a small brown cabin, with a barred door made of rusty metal bars. Dick knocked on the door, making a soft rattling noise. The door opened up, and revealed a smooth skinned young teenage boy, close to Alice's age.

"I'm guessing this is Alice?" Said the teenager. Alice recognized his voice as the voice on the walkie-talkie, Riley.

"Yeah." Said Dick. "Alice, this is Riley, the guy you heard on the walkie-talkie earlier."

"I know," Said Alice, shaking Riley's hand, "Nice to meet you."

Riley was a average sized teenager, with soft jet black hair brushed to the side, hanging down over his face. His face was smooth, much like his voice. His bright blue eyes made his cheerful persona complete.

He quickly jerked his head, moving his thick hair out of his face. He was pretty attractive, but that didn't affect her. She'd learned to observe people's actions, not their appearance. Needless to say, she wasn't a social person, not anymore.

"Come on in, there's a lot of people you should meet." Said Riley, as he opened the door fully, revealing four others inside. Alice awkwardly followed Dick inside. It'd been a long time since she'd seen this many people. Not since the refugee camp.

Each of them stood, staring at her intently.

"Hey, I'm Zella." Said one girl, who looked about Riley's age, as she extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Alice shook her hand. "I'm guessing you already know that I'm Alice."

Zella was slightly shorter than Riley, and had long black hair, styled into a ponytail, which hung down nearly to her waist. She had dark brown eyes, and a small, pretty face. She retracted her small hand, as a nearby man extended his.

"I'm Chandler." Said the man.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

Chandler was a rather short man, who appeared to be in his late forties. His light brown hair was graying, and his brown eyes matched his jacket. Chandler stepped back, and a skinny woman reached out her hand. Alice shook it.

"I'm Kelly." She said.

"Nice to meet you as well." Said Alice awkwardly. It had been a while since she had interacted with another person, much less this many. She would've never been this awkward and mannerly before the outbreak. Back then she was social, and unafraid to speak her mind. But that Alice died a long time ago. Or so she thought.

Kelly was a tall woman, probably somewhere in her thirties. Despite her friendly greeting, something about her told Alice that she wasn't a friendly person. Kelly had messy red ginger hair, spiraling in all directions, and dark brown eyes frozen in an eerie glare. Her hawk-like stare made Alice look away. Kelly walked away into another room. The only person Alice hadn't yet met was a man sitting carelessly on a couch.

"I'm Toby. Nice to meet you, bye." Said the man rudely, without even looking at Alice.

Toby was a tall tattooed man, who was slightly overweight, with buzzcut black hair, and uninterested brown eyes.

"Toby, I think she's already guessed that you're the asshole of the group," Retorted Dick, "No need to give her any more hints."

Alice couldn't help but smile at Dick's choice of words.

[Dick's group was dysfunctional, but that seemed to work for them. Oddly enough, it made me trust them more.]

"Don't be a dick, Dick." Said Toby, without making eye contact. Dick rolled his eyes.

"Well anyways, you're probably pretty hungry, we'll be making dinner soon. It'll be getting dark soon, too." Said Riley. "There's about four other cabins up the trail, Me and Zella share a cabin, and the others have their own. You can choose a roommate once you're ready."

"Um, thanks." Said Alice, overwhelmed by all the sudden change within the past couple days.

"No problem."

[Aside from Toby(and maybe Kelly), I was pretty sure I could trust these people.]

* * *

THREE HOURS LATER.

Alice and Dick walked up the trail to their cabin after eating dinner(ramen noodles, oddly satisfying). She had tried the best she could to find a non-awkward way to ask Dick to be her roommate, to no avail.

"So, why don't more than one of you go on supply runs?" Asked Alice, trying to start conversation. She couldn't stand one more moment of awkward silence. "Is it always just you?"

"Most of the time," Replied Dick. "To be honest, the others tend to only slow me down."

"What'd you do before the outbreak?"

"I enlisted in the military, could've made it through boot camp...but I dropped out."

"Why?"

"Guess the military just wasn't for me, but the gun experience I got in boot camp sure helps _nowadays_. None of the others have _the slightest clue_ how to use a gun. I've tried to teach them, but we can't be wasting ammo, isn't easy to get practice without actually _firing the gun._"

Alice looked to her right, and noticed a medium-sized stream running along the side of the trail. Alice and Dick reached a splintered green cabin, with a small shed just outside. They entered, Dick leading her inside. It was a cozy place, with one bed to the side of the main room, and a work shelve on the wall in front of her. There was also a small bathroom, but nothing otherwise.

Dick helped Alice set up a sleeping bag on the floor, as the moon rose higher and higher into the starry night sky. Some small fishing gear and knives lay on a work table in the room, along with one outlet right next to it.

"You guys have power here?" Asked Alice, looking curiously at the outlet.

"Yeah, the cabins have their own generators." Said Dick. "We also have showers, but we haven't been able to figure out why they don't work. The power's pretty limited, and it doesnt work in some of the cabins, but it's good enough."

"Damn, I haven't had power since the outbreak. You guys are _lucky_."

"Yeah...Well, good night." Said Dick.

"'Night." Said Alice, as she rolled over in her sleeping bag and fell silent. She could tell that Dick liked to do things alone, and that her presence annoyed him, but he was the only one at the cabins that she was remotely familiar with.

[At first I wasn't quite sure what to make of the people at the cabins, but I sure wasn't willing to leave a place with fucking _power_ without good reason. Sure, I was antisocial, but I don't think anyone, including me, cared.]

* * *

Alice and Dick awoke roughly at the same time, and helped each other tidy things up inside the cabin before leaving for the morning meeting.

The morning meeting was somewhat of a tradition among the cabin survivors, a time in the morning where everyone would head over to the cabin closest to the trailhead to eat breakfast together.

Alice was still amazed at everything they had at the cabins. They had power(albeit a small amount), a good source of water, and a relatively stable supply of food. Every two or three days Dick, or occasionally someone else, would go on a day-long trip to the city at the base of the mountain to scavenge for supplies.

However, Alice still felt uneasy. As she got to know the people at the cabin, she began to realize just how aggressive some of them were. Toby was constantly getting in fights, mostly with Dick, and rarely talked with Alice. Kelly isolated herself, and rarely talked to _anyone_.

[There was something wrong with Kelly, and I knew it. We were somewhat similar, but I didn't trust her.]

On top of that, although Zella and Riley were outgoing people, they tended to interact with each other more often than others, leaving Dick and Alice in an awkward forced friendship.

Dick and Alice arrived at the morning meeting to find everyone except Toby sitting around a fireplace with a small, flickering flame inside.

"Hey." Greeted Riley.

"Hey." Responded Alice and Dick in synchronized harmony.

"We don't have much ramen noodles left to eat, and not much other than that, either," Noted Dick. "I'm going to need to go on another supply run soon."

"You should bring someone with you this time," Suggested Zella. "It'll be easier that way."

"Yeah, I think _not._" Scoffed Dick. "Others only slow me down anyways, _you know that._"

"Why don't _I_ come with you?" Asked Alice, tired of the endless mountainous landscape, "I need to get out of this place anyways."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"You heard what I said, I'm better off on my own."

"Dick, I survived on my own for _months,_" She protested, "I know how to scavenge, I know how to survive, maybe even better than _you_ do."

"_Doubtful_." Retorted Dick.

"Look Dick, just take her with you so we can end this stupid argument and start eating." Said Toby.

"Fine." Said Dick, with an irritable sigh.

After a quick breakfast, Alice and Dick decided to leave for the supply run the following morning, leaving Alice bored. Dick ventured off on his own, leaving Alice alone next to the brown cabin near the trailhead. She sat down on a severed log, resting her chin on her hand. The mountain landscape quickly occupied her mind, and she began to get lost in thought.

Her thinking was quickly distrurbed by the arrival of Chandler.

"Hey," He greeted, "Me and Riley were thinking about going swimming upstream, if the water's deep enough...You wanna come along?"

"No thanks," She replied, "Deep water's not really my thing."

"Okay, tell me if you change your mind."

She nodded, as he began to walk away. He paused, turning back around.

"You don't trust us all that much," He asked, "Do you?"

She wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Depends," She replied awkwardly, "Trust takes time, I guess. I think you're nice people."

"You seem like one, too. See you later, Alice."

"Yeah."

Chandler walked away, leaving Alice alone.

[Truth is, I really didn't _know_ who I trusted at that point. It had been a while since I'd trusted anyone, much less a group of complete strangers.]

* * *

"We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, you should get some sleep." Said Dick, hours later, as he curled up in his bed.

The day had gone by quickly, but Alice still felt unsettled, for one reason or the other. She missed her old group, and that surprised her. She missed Iris. Although Iris was cold and distant, she took care of her, and that worth _something_.

"I'll be back in about a half an hour." Replied Alice.

"Where are you going?"

"Out." That was all Alice said, as she closed the cabin door behind her.

Alice walked a little ways down the trail, hoping to clear her head. She stopped, and walked down to the stream, looking at her ghostly reflection in the shallow running water. She hadn't had much time to think since she arrived at the cabin, and the thoughts were overwhelming. Was this place the right place for her? Was anyone here a threat? Where was Iris?

For reasons unknown even to her, Alice began to cry, for the first time since she left Iris behind. She began to think of her previous group, and these thoughts only made things worse. It was rather cold outside, but it didn't bother her much. She just wanted to be alone. It felt great to finally be able to release her emotions, after everything that had happened in the past few months. After her previous group. After Iris. After Lou. After the warehouse. After she had been alone for so long.

The sound of branches crunching under someone's feet behind Alice startled her, making her turn around abruptly.

"Sorry-...I didn't mean to scare you." Said Riley, who was standing about fifteen feet away on the trail. He put his hands in his pockets, and began walking towards Alice. His bright blue eyes shone in the dim moonlight.

"Why are you here?" Asked Alice, wiping her eyes abruptly.

"I was taking a small night hike, it's kind of something I do every once in a while," Explained Riley awkwardly. "I heard you and went to see what was going on."

"Well I'm fine," Replied Alice coldly, "Thanks for checking."

"Um, you're welcome." Riley began to walk away, "Bye."

Riley paused.

"You're not really okay, are you?" He asked.

"Congratulations Sherlock, you figured it out," Replied Alice sarcastically in defense, "_A true master of the detective arts._"

Riley grinned, and stepped towards Alice.

"...Alice...why were you crying?" He asked abruptly.

"Frankly, it's none of your business." Alice didn't want to be bothered, but she still felt a little guilty for her rude response.

"I know you probably went through a lot while you were out on your own..." Began Riley. "If you need someone to talk to-"

"I don't." Said Alice, cutting him off. "_I said I'm fine_."

"Obviously." Said Riley, with respectful sarcasm, "Look, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong. I won't tell anyone, I promise. But it's obvious you need _someone_ to talk to."

"Fine, sit down." Said Alice, impatiently.

[I admit it felt nice to have someone who genuinely cared about me. Riley was the first person since before the outbreak who cared whether or not I was okay. To be honest, I was annoyed, but I found his persistence to be somewhat comforting.]

"So, what's wrong?" Asked Riley.

"Where do I start?"

"Start at the part that's bothering you the most."

"I'll give you short version; At the start of the outbreak, I was at a foster home. My foster parents died. After that I wandered through the streets, running from anything that moved. A group of survivors found me and took me in. They brought me to a nearby refugee camp, and for a while we survived together...but things fell apart. Eventually our camp was overrun, and only a few of us made it out alive. A few days later me and my group were looking for a place to set up camp for the night...I suggested we camp in a nearby warehouse. During the night a horde of mutants passed through..." Began Alice, as Riley listened intently.

"So you call them 'mutants'?" Asked Riley, interrupting her. Alice nodded.

Before Alice could continue her story, Riley spoke up again.

"I was adopted into Zella's family after my dad went to prison, a year or two before the outbreak. We hid out in a grocery store with a few others after everything happened, that's where me and Zella met the others...After Zella's parents died, us four decided to leave for the mountains. Now here we are, months later." He said in a soft voice.

"So you and Zella aren't-" Began Alice, but she couldn't think of a way to end the sentence well.

"Dating? _No_." He said, completing her sentence. Alice blushed. "She's my adopted sister."

[Something about Riley always made me feel safe, albeit uncomfortable. He was perfectly fine with being open to people, and that wasn't something I was used to. That night was the first time I ever talked to anyone about my problems. Before I just kept my emotions bottled up inside, and occasionally unleashed my rage on the nearest mutant. The cabins changed that. They changed _me_. Or at least, they changed _something_.]

"...Anyways, the warehouse we camped in was overrun, because the lock wasn't strong enough to keep the mutants out. Two people died that night...and they blamed it on me. We all knew it wasn''t my fault, but I guess they just needed _someone_ to blame. I was pretty much a liability to them." Alice's voice was shaky, especially for someone who wasn't used to being emotional, "After that, my group began to distance itself from me. As more and more of us died, it eventually was just me and one other woman left alive. Her name was Iris. Her husband died in the warehouse, and she hated me for it. As if it was _my_ fault for suggesting we camp in the warehouse. Eventually I couldn't take it any more, so I packed my things and ran. I ran as far away from her as I could, and decided I would be better off alone. Then I eventually met Dick. Now here we are."

For a few moments Riley and Alice both remained silent, looking up at the moonlit sky. Being in the mountains like this, stars were easy to spot, especially without light pollution.

"The stars are beautiful." Noted Riley, looking upwards.

Alice nodded sleepily, and yawned. Oddly enough, she hadn't felt tired until that moment.

"Do you mind if I walk you back to your cabin?" Asked Riley politely.

"Not at all."

* * *

Riley and Alice arrived at her cabin, having lost track of time while talking on the way. Alice could hear Dick's snoring from outside the door.

"'Night." Said Riley, his hair effortlessly blowing across his face from the nighttime breeze.

"'Night." Echoed Alice.

Riley began to walk away.

"Wait." Said Alice, stopping him in his tracks. "Before you go-"

Alice gave Riley a tight hug, taking him by surprise.

"Thank you...so much." Said Alice, with a sniffle.

"Anytime." Said Riley, as Alice finally let go of him. Alice wiped her eyes, and the two said goodbye.

Alice walked into her cabin, feeling better than she had since before the outbreak. She smiled, something she hadn't done in a long, long time. She crawled into her sleeping bag silently, and spent over an hour trying to go to sleep. Eventually, she drifted away peacefully.

[And so, I slept peacefully that night, and that's when I finally realized: these people weren't just people I survived with, like my last group. They were becoming my friends, and that made me uncomfortable.]

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading, I'd love a review! Sorry if there was too much emotion, this is actually two chapters in one, so I had to condense a little.

Next Chapter - Alice and Dick go on a simple supply run, which doesn't go as planned.


	3. A Long Night

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, I have a couple things to tell you:

1) If you're writing a review, It'd be a great favor for me if you could rate the episode on a scale of 1-10. It helps me determine which chapters were the most favored by readers. If you don't have time for a full review, then you can always simply rate the chapter. I reccommend using this format for all chapter reviews.

2) Big news, I plan on making another walking dead fanfiction series. It will focus on two siblings who join Rick's group after escaping from Teminus with him. Both of my Walking Dead series will exist in the same universe, and will have crossovers.

3) After 2 relatively slow-burning chapters, the next few chapters(starting with #3) will be buttox-clenchingly awesome. Buttox-Clenching: An adjective that describes something so intense or favorable that it is capable of making one's buttox clench.

AND SO, LET THE BUTTOX-CLENCHING BEGIN.

* * *

The next day, Alice awoke to messy hair, and rather unpleasant breath. She looked around to see Dick sitting on his bed, reading a book.

"Hey." Said Dick, without looking up. "You sure slept in."

"What time is it?" Asked Alice sleepily.

"How the hell would _I_ know? One thing I _do_ know, it's late. _Really _late."

"Well then let's get going."

Alice and Dick ate their breakfast speedily, then gathered their things, and started their hike down the mountain to find supplies.

"We have several cars, so why are we walking?" Asked Alice, just now noticing the cars in the parking lot.

"It isn't all that easy to get gas nowadays, and we don't have the keys to any of those except two." Responded Dick "Plus, I enjoy the hike."

Alice shrugged, and they kept walking.

About three hours later, they reached a city at the base of the mountain. The hike down took significantly less time than the hike up a few days ago, when she first met Dick.

"There's some lemon and orange trees over this way, let's pack as much as we can." Said Dick, leading her down a road, towards a large house in the distance. She hadn't noticed it before, but the houses nearby were gorgeous and large, most of them mansions.

Once they reached the trees, they began plucking the fruit, and stuffing them into their backpacks. After she finished packing somewhere around ten oranges and lemons, Alice peeled an orange, and bit into it. It tasted sweet, unlike the ones she had eaten days ago when she was alone.

"Where to now?" Asked Alice, after they both finished packing the fruits.

"There's a supermarket a while down the road, only one that I haven't looted yet."

"Sounds good to me."

Alice could see a mutant following her and Dick in the distance.

"Here, take this." Dick handed her a handgun, which Alice gingerly held in her hands. "Take care of it, our group only has two guns"

"Um, actually, I don't know how to use one of these." Said Alice, making Dick stop in his tracks.

"You serious?"

"Yeah."

"Well then I guess I'll have to teach you." Said Dick, with a smile. "How the hell'd you survive without one of these for so long?"

"I knew how to use a baseball bat pretty well, and no one ever taught me to shoot."

"In that case, today's the day you learn." Said Dick, as he and Alice resumed walking., leaving the lone mutant in the distance.

About thirty minutes later, Dick and Alice finally arrived at Giovanni's farmer's market. A tall, rusting semi-truck used for delivery sat in the parking lot. Alice and Dick both entered at once, Dick wielding his gun, and Alice her baseball bat. The door to the market was unhinged on the floor, allowing them to enter without breaking it or making any noise. Alice still had the gun he gave her, but it was safely tucked in her pants.

The place was ransacked, but a few boxes here and there remained.

"Take anything that's edible." Instructed Dick.

"Kay." Responded Alice, who was already cautiously searching the aisles.

A few protein bars, a box of cereal, a few bottles of hairspray(which Alice had a use for), a couple lighters, and five boxes of Macaroni and Cheese. That was all Alice found, all the water bottles were gone.

"You find anything good?" Called out Alice from across the store.

"Nothin' yet," Said Dick, as he looked at his reflection in a glass pane in the door leading into the store office while trying on a hat. "But I found this awesome hat on the counter."

Alice smiled, as her back was turned to the store entrance. She was bending over, looking at an empty box of cereal on the ground. She used to eat that exact brand of cereal almost every day she could as a kid, and the taste of it sounded good to her even now. She heard footsteps behind her.

"So Dick, you finished searching your side of the store?" Asked Alice casually, as the footsteps drew closer.

"WHAT?" Called out Dick from across the store. The person behind her wasn't Dick.

Alice whirled around with her baseball bat, but it was too late. The mutant had already grabbed hold of her from behind, and it's weight forced her onto her stomach, with her left hand being the only thing keeping it from biting her. Her right hand was pinned under her chest.

"DICK! HELP!" Screamed Alice frantically.

"ALICE, I'M COMING!" Yelled Dick nearby.

Over the moaning of the mutant on top of her, she could hear more footsteps. There were more mutants directly behind her. She heard gunshots. Suddenly the mutant was torn off her by Dick, who proceeded to stab it in the head. He quickly helped her up, and they turned around to face a large group of mutants, gradually pouring in through the unblocked entrance.

"RUN!" Yelled Dick, leading Alice deeper into the store, away from the mutants.

"How the hell are we gonna get out?!" Alice held Dick's hand tightly, trying to keep up with him.

"Maybe there's a back exit!"

They looked as best as they could, but there was no entrance or exit but the front. They were trapped, with mutants closing in from all sides.

"GET ON TOP OF THE AISLE, WE'LL BE OUT OF THEIR REACH!" Yelled Alice over the loud moaning of the nearby mutants.

Dick and Alice scrambled up the aisle, and sat on top of it, their feet only inches above the mutants below. The mutants began to surround the aisle, and it began to wobble from all the weight.

"IF THE AISLE TIPS OVER WITH US ON IT, WE'RE DEAD!" Yelled Dick. "WE NEED TO MOVE ALONG THE AISLES, AND GET TO THE ENTRANCE!"

Dick and Alice hopped from aisle to aisle, taking their weight off the aisle they were on previously, making it tip over and fall. The aisle caused a domino effect, knocking over the aisles one-by-one. Alice and Dick desperately scrambled from aisle to aisle, as the aisles collapsed behind them, falling into the crowd of mutants below. As they neared the entrance, Dick lost his footing, caught by the landslide of falling aisles.

"DICK!" Screamed Alice. Dick fell down, with only a split second to recover and run. Alice paused too long, causing her to fall with the aisle as well. Alice prepared to run, as the mutants closed in, but noticed Dick wasn't following.

Dick was frantically trying to free his foot, which was pinned under a fallen aisle.

"HELP ME!" He yelled desperately.

Alice had a decision to make, and no time to think. She could either leave Dick behind, and save her own life(after all, no one would ever know what really happened, except her), or help him free his foot, and quite possibly, die in the process. The mutants were almost within touching distance, and their only path of escape was getting more and more narrow.

Alice turned around to run for the door and leave Dick behind, then stopped. She suddenly turned around, and began pulling on Dick's foot with all her might, trying to free him. She was done being alone.

[At that point, I would've rather died in that market with Dick on that day than survive years, only to die alone. Something about the cabin survivors changed me, and I knew it.]

Alice finally managed to free Dick's foot, but their escape was blocked on all sides. He hobbled with her to the farthest corner of the store, as the mutants closed in, now only around ten feet away. Alice noticed a weak spot in the group of mutants, a path only blocked by around three mutants.

"THERE!" Screamed Alice, as she pointed towards the weak spot. "WE NEED TO CLEAR A PATH THROUGH THOSE MUTANTS!"

Dick pulled his handgun, and shot at the mutants, killing two of them before he ran out of ammunition. This was Alice and Dick's only chance, their last stand.

Alice pulled out the gun that was tucked in her pants, but instead of handing it to Dick, she aimed at the mutant herself. She pulled the pin on the gun back, and cocked it, as she had seen people do in movies.

"God, please let this work." Whispered Alice to herself, as she pulled the trigger. By some miracle, the gun fired. Dick must've accidentally left the safety off earlier, the sound was deafening, stinging her ears. She missed.

Alice fired five more shots before the gun was out of bullets. Two shots to the torso, two missed, and one last bullet to the head. The mutant fell down dead, allowing Dick and Alice to run to the entrance, just as the horde of mutants reached them. While Alice and Dick were running, and almost at the entrance, Dick tripped, having a hard time running with his injured ankle, twisted by the fallen aisle earlier.

"SHIT!" He yelled, as a mutant grabbed him by the leg, pulling him back towards the horde. It's fingers were caught in his shoelaces, and he couldn't get it off.

Alice grabbed his hand, trying to pull him towards the entrance.

"LET ME GO! LEAVE ME!" Yelled Dick, as a second mutant neared him, while the rest of the horde followed close behind, only slowed by the fallen aisles blocking their way, making them have to walk around the rubble.

"I'M _NOT_ LEAVING." Said Alice, firmly. Suddenly, Alice had an idea.

"TAKE YOUR SHOE OFF!" Yelled Alice, as her grip began to loosen.

"WHAT? WHY?!" Exclaimed Dick.

"JUST DO IT!"

Dick used his other hand to loosen his shoe, which fell off, along with the mutant holding on to his foot. Dick was free, but the mutant horde was directly behind him, advancing rapidly towards him and Alice. Dick clutched Alice's hand tightly, and hobbled quickly with her out of the store, as the horde followed close behind.

Alice and Dick didn't stop running until they were about a half a mile away from the store. They both collapsed, and lay panting on the floor, completely exhausted, but safe(for the time being). They could see the horde following them slowly from a distance.

"Well...on the bright side...at least I found this awesome hat." Said Dick jokingly, triumphantly presenting a gray ball cap to Alice.

"You have _got_...to be shitting me." Said Alice weakly, as she and Dick lay on their backpacks breathing heavily, looking up at the cloudless blue sky.

"We better get moving again, if we don't get a headstart on those mutants, we might end up in the same situation again." Said Dick, after resting for about three minutes.

"Yeah, let's get the fuck out of here."

"You sure curse a lot for a fifteen year old."

"I'm pretty certain that I'm sixteen by now."

"Whatever."

Dick and Alice stood up, and Dick pulled out his walkie-talkie.

"Hey Dick, are you guys on your way back yet?" Asked Riley through the walkie-talkie.

"Ran into a little trouble, we might be a bit late, my ankle's pretty fucked up." Said Dick. "I'll explain later."

"Well, I'll see you later." Said Riley. "Bye."

"Bye." Said Dick, turning off the walkie-talkie.

"Well I _did_ find some food, so at least our supply run was at least a _little bit_ productive." Said Alice, wearily.

"Yeah." Said Dick, as he and Alice walked up the mountain road, as the sun set behind them.

* * *

Seven hours later, Alice and Dick were still a while away from the cabins, and it was already way past midnight.

They wearily walked through an abandoned mountain village, that Dick and his group had looted when they first found the cabins.v

"So, what do you think about using cars for supply runs _now_?" Asked Alice jokingly.

Alice and Dick were moving slowly, and the mutant horde was still following them up the mountain. Dick's ankle was obviously injured, but neither of them were sure to what extent.

"Once we get back to the cabins, we have to warn the others." Said Dick, in a worried voice. "That mutant horde is big, and it's headed straight for the cabins. We need to be ready when it gets there."

"This is gonna be a _long_ night."

* * *

It took them about two more hours to finally reach the front door of the brown cabin. Alice knocked loudly, and Zella opened the door after about a minute, having obviously been asleep.

"Holy shit." She said in awe, looking at your dirtied shirts, and Dick's ankle.

"What the hell happened?" Asked Riley, after gathering the others inside the brown cabin.

"We ran into some trouble with mutants." Said Dick. "But hey, at least I found this cool hat." Dick pointed at the hat on his head and smiled weakly.

Riley sighed, and brought Dick in to rest on the couch.

"A big group of mutants followed us up the mountain, they're going to reach the cabins soon." Explained Alice. "We need to get ready, there's a shitload of them out there."

"What if we stay inside the cabins, and stay real quiet?" Asked Chandler. "Won't they leave us alone?"

"Maybe, but if we do that they'll just wander around, and we'll have mutants everywhere on the trail." Replied Dick.

"I'm not going to die because you dumbasses led a group of mutants back to the cabins!" Yelled Chandler in panic.

"This wasn't our fault!" Argued Alice.

"Everyone calm down." Said Riley, calmly. "We need to get all the weapons we have, and stop this horde together, as a team."

"Riley's right." Agreed Alice.

"Well then let's get everyone a weapon." Said Dick. "Oh yeah, and one small _other_ problem: both of the only guns we have are out of bullets."

"Well then I guess we're going to have to fight them hand-to-hand." Said Zella.

"This is gonna suck." Commented Toby.

[It only took about an hour for the mutants to reach the parking lot.]

* * *

Alice and the others(except for Dick, who lay injured in the brown cabin) stealthily watched from the trailhead, weapons ready, as the horde drew closer.

"...There has to be at least thirty of them..." Noted a terrified Chandler. "I- I can't do this."

Chandler turned around, and ran off into the forest.

"Chandler, we need your help! Get the fuck back here!" Whispered Alice loudly.

"You sure curse a lot for a fifteen year old." Commented Toby. Alice rolled her eyes.

Chandler's footsteps faded into the distance, as he ran further away.

"Then I guess we're gonna have to do this without Dick _or_ Chandler." Said Zella, grimly. "We're fucked."

"No. We're not." Corrected Riley. "If we stick together and do this the smart way, we'll be fine."

"Follow my lead." Whispered Alice, as she advanced towards the horde, using large rocks to keep out of sight. "We need to catch them by surprise."

"Can't we just lead them away from the cabins?" Asked Zella quietly, as she and Kelly hid behind a rock next to Alice.

"Even if there _was_ a way to get around them to lead them away, there'd be no way to lead them away permanently." Explained Alice. "They'd just wander back, or stay down there and block our way down the mountain. Trust me, I know how mutants act."

The mutant horde was almost on top of them.

"Now!" Commanded Alice, jumping out from behind the rock, wielding her baseball bat in her right hand, and a hatchet in the other.

Alice charged directly in the mutants, driving the hatchet directly into the closest mutant's face, and using her baseball bat to hit the mutant next to it. The others quickly joined her, charging headstrong into the mutant horde.

Alice was impressed with Kelly's skill with a machete, as Kelly tore through several mutants in mere seconds. Another mutant stumbled towards Alice, as her group began to get surrounded. Alice brought both her machete and baseball bat swinging towards it, crushing it's head in between the two.

Another mutant grabbed a hold of her. She shook it off, and charged directly into it, knocking it backwards, knocking over several other mutants like dominoes. It became hard to move, with all the mutant bodies lying on the ground. The other members of her group had been cut off from her, and the mutants were slowly surrounding her.

"We've almost got them! Keep fighting!" Yelled Alice, ferociously striking the nearby mutants with her weapons. It seemed as if no matter how many she killed, another would take it's place.

"Alice, we need to stick together, get over here!" Yelled Riley, as he and the others retreated backwards.

While she was distracted by a mutant in front of her, another grabbed her from behind. Before she could react, the mutant suddenly fell backwards, having somehow been killed. After dispatching the mutant in front of her, Alice whirled around, to find Dick standing behind her, pulling his knife out of the mutant's carcass.

"You shouldn't be here! You have an injured ankle!" Exclaimed Alice, as she and Dick went back-to-back, vigorously fighting for their lives(for the second time in a day).

"I'm _not_ leaving." Said Dick, as Alice had said to him hours earlier.

A few moments later, Alice flung her arm as fast as she could, slashing a nearby mutant's face in half with her hatchet. She looked around for more, but there were none. Piles of mutant bodies lay on the ground throughout the parking lot. Blood covered Alice's clothes and face, as she looked back at Dick. They were standing in a massive pile of mutant bodies.

"We- we did it." Said Dick triumphantly.

Riley and the others reunited with Alice and Dick, berating them for their reckless behavior.

"That was reckless, but I must admit, also pretty badass." Said Zella. "_You could've gotten yourselves killed_."

"Well we didn't." Said Dick defensively. "Now let's get some goddamn sleep."

Alice helped Dick back to their cabin, both being exhausted beyond measure.

* * *

"When it comes to supply runs, on a scale of one to ten, that was a solid zero." Remarked Dick jokingly, as he struggled to find a comfortable position in bed.

"To be honest, it was actually pretty fun."

"Agreed."

"'Night."

"'Night."

The both fell asleep quickly, without much effort.

-=|To be continued|=-

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Chapter 4: No Going Back - Preview/Synopsis: In a short yet thrilling chapter, After Chandler's cowardly actions during the mutant attack in Chapter 3, he returns to the group, only to be treated as an outsider, with disasterous(and deadly) consequences. Riley and Alice bond, as tragedy lurks just around the corner.


	4. No Going Back

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, I have a few things to tell you about:

1) My other Walking Dead series, which will be somewhat of a spinoff/companion series to this one, is in the works. The first Chapter is still being worked on at the moment.

2) In case you didn't already notice, I added a cover picture for the story, a sketch of what I imagine Alice to look like. My friend has a sketch program on his computer, so I asked him to help me out. So yeah, I'm about 78% sure this picture was made by him(I asked him if he could draw a dover pic and he emailed me this).

3) If you're writing a review, It'd be a great favor for me if you could rate the episode on a scale of 1-10. It helps me determine which chapters were the most favored by readers. If you don't have time for a full review, then you can always simply rate the chapter. I reccommend using this format for all chapter reviews.

4) I would like to announce that a character from the Walking Dead TV series will soon be introduced into Survivor.

* * *

"Guys, I already said I was sorry, please, can we just drop the subject?" Asked Chandler, at the morning meeting, the morning after the mutant attack.

Early in the morning, a few hours after the attack, Chandler finally returned to the cabins, apologizing for his cowardice earlier. However, it didn't make much of a difference to the group if he was sorry or not, they still looked down on him.

[To be honest, I felt pretty bad for Chandler, even though he left us all to die the night before. I knew what it was like to be the outsider in a group, and regardless of his actions, I wasn't willing to let the same become of him. If our group had been more forgiving towards him, things might've ended differently than they eventually did.]

Chandler stormed out of the cabin, frustrated. Alice followed him.

"Alice, where are you going?" Asked Dick.

"To talk to him." Responded Alice, as she closed the cabin door behind her. "_Someone_ ought to."

"Hey, slow down." Said Alice, as she caught up to Chandler, who was walking silently up the trail.

"Look, I didn't _want_ to leave you guys behind last night, it's just- I'm not a survivor." Confessed Chandler. "I've never killed a mutant in my life, I was hoping you and the others would leave with me, but you stayed. That was _your_ choice, and you can't blame me for making _mine_. _I'm not like you_, I can't survive like you can. Like _any_ of you can."

"Don't be dramatic. I'm not saying what you did was right or wrong, what I'm saying is, you're still a part of our group, people are just a little pissed." Explained Alice. "Just give it a few days, they'll get over it."

Alice walked away, as Chandler walked alone, back to his cabin. She could tell that he was guilty, but couldn't think of a way to solve things. So she kept walking, hoping things would work out.

[I wish I would've done more. I wish I _could've_. I could sense that things were going to end badly. And they did. _Really_ badly.]

Alice didn't quite feel like talking with the others, so she walked over to the stream, and sat, taking off her shoes and dipping her feet in the cold water. She heard a noise behind her.

"Hey Riley." Assumed Alice.

"Hey." Said Riley, as he sat down beside her.

"Thanks for talking to Chandler, I could tell he needed it."

"No problem, but seriously, you and the others need to take it easy on him."

"Alice, he could've gotten some of us _killed_ with that stunt he pulled last night."

"Well, it was mine and Dick's fault the horde came here in the first place, so it's not _just_ his fault. I know what it's like to be in his shoes, and trust me, this isn't the way to solve problems, it's the way we create them."

"I agree, but we can't just ignore what he did last night."

"No, but we can at least _start_ by not being a dick to him."

"I guess you're right. You usually are."

"Also...about that night a few days ago, when we talked by the creek..." Said Alice, as things began to get awkward.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry for, you know, being so overly emotional."

"Trust me, it's fine. That talk helped _me_ as much as it did you. Things were getting a bit too routine around here, and there wasn't really anyone I could have a _real_ conversation with, even Zella."

Alice and Riley were now staring each other directly in the eyes, and neither could think of anything to say. Out of impulse, Alice kissed him on the cheek, making him blush.

[I'm still not really sure _why_ I kissed him when I did, but it's one of the few things I did at the cabins I _don't_ regret.]

"RILEY, GET OVER HERE, I FOUND SOMETHING YOU'LL WANT TO SEE!" Called out Dick, before Riley could respond to Alice's kiss.

"I'll get back to you on that." Said Riley to Alice charmingly, as he ran off to help Dick.

Alice walked over to her cabin, and overheard Dick and Riley talking about how Dick found some bullets for one of the guns in an emergency storage bag they kept in a shed.

"Well, those bullets will certainly come in handy later." Thought Alice, as Riley and Dick faded out of earshot.

[I had no idea of the dark irony that thought possessed.]

Alice the remainder of the day reading some books Dick kept on a shelf in their cabin, and taking a short hike.

As it was getting dark, Dick walked up to her as she came down from her hike.

"Hey Alice, you seen my gun?"

"Um, no."

"Well, it's missing, out of my backpack."

"I'll keep an eye out."

"K."

Dick walked away, towards the brown cabins to ask the others about his gun. Alice certainly felt like less of an outsider than when she first joined the group, as that role had shifted to Chandler, and she knew that made Chandler uncomfortable.

Alice decided to go talk to Chandler, and straighten things out, after all, she knew how he felt. However, when Alice knocked on his cabin door, there was no response.

"He must be back at the brown cabin with the others." Thought Alice.

She walked quickly back to the brown cabin, beginning to hear a commotion from inside. She opened the door to find Chandler and the others in a heated argument.

"Look, I just want to leave!" Exclaimed Chandler in an alarmingly loud voice. "Just give me some supplies, and I'll be on my way!"

"No way in hell this piece of shit's leaving with _any_ of our supplies!" Argued Toby.

"Everyone just calm the fuck down down!" Commanded Dick.

"You can leave the group if you like, but you're _not_ taking any of our supplies." Said Riley, firmly. "We're low on supplies as it is, and if you're just going to leave like this, then you can find your own at the base of the mountain."

Alice was beginning to understand what was going on, as she stood next to Dick, listening to Chandler. Suddenly, she noticed a small piece of metal tucked in Chandler's pants hidden behind his shirt. Dick's gun.

"He's got a gun!" Warned Alice, but her warning came too late. Chandler pulled out the gun, and pointed it directly at Dick.

"Give me all your weapons! Now!" Yelled Chandler, his hands quivering.

"Chandler...calm down." Said Riley, as he slowly advanced towards Chandler. "Just give me the gun, and we'll give you some supplies, and then you can leave...just give me the gun."

"NO!" Screamed Chandler. "I'm not playing games! Give me your supplies, or I swear to God I'll-"

Suddenly, everything became a blur. Zella lunged at him, trying to grab the gun. A gunshot echoed through the cabin, and Alice's ears heard only a loud ringing noise for several seconds after.

Zella stumbled backwards, clutching her neck. Suddenly, she collapsed, revealing a gunshot wound on her throat. Alice then realized: Chandler shot her in the neck.

"I- I didn't mean to-..." Stammered a panicked Chandler, horrified at what he had done.

[Chandler didn't mean to do it. I doubt he even knew there were any bullets in the gun. I could see the guilt in his eyes, but it made no difference. There was no going back.]

Dick tried to hold Riley back, but it was too late. Riley lunged into Chandler, stabbing his knife deep into Chandler's chest. Blood stained Chandler's shirt, as he slumped to the ground.

"...no...no...NO..." Whimpered Riley in shock, as he cradled Zella's lifeless body in his arms, falling to his knees in grief. The others were silent, unable to believe what just happened.

[The only person not shocked was Kelly. She just stood there, as if she had seen this coming the entire time.]

"I-" Began Dick, but he chocked up, and couldn't finish his sentence. His eyes were red.

Alice looked at Chandler, and Chandler stared back.

"I...I'm not like you...I never...was..." Mumbled Chandler weakly to Alice, before dying.

[Those were Chandler's last words.]

Everyone remained silent, as Riley sobbed over his sister's body.

[Toby left the group in the middle of the night, taking a large portion of our supplies with him. He left a note, explaining how the group was "falling into pieces", and that he needed to leave in order to survive. He wasn't wrong. Riley was changed after that night, and didn't speak to anyone for weeks after.]

-=|To be continued|=-

* * *

**Author's Note: **

Chapter 5: "Tremors" Preview/Synopsis - Over a year after the tragic events of Chapter 4, Alice's group meets another band of survivors, having recovered from the incident with Chandler. Alice tries to help Riley through his still-lingering grief over Zella's death, and the guilt of killing Chandler, and as things get worse, she is put in a precarious situation while trying to talk him out of suicide.


	5. Tremors

**Author's Note: **

Couple things to tell you guys:

1) My new Walking Dead fanfiction series' first Chapter is almost finished, and the plot has changed quite a bit from what I initially had planned. Should be posting the first chapter relatively soon. I can confirm that this series will focus on the characters from the TV series, but will exist in the same universe as Survivor, and will crossover from time to time.

2) If you're writing a review, It'd be a great favor for me if you could rate the chapter on a scale of 1-10. It helps me determine which chapters were the most favored by readers. If you don't have time for a full review, then you can always simply rate the chapter. Thanks!

UPDATE: I've revamped the opening chapters of the series, most of them kind of sucked, in my opinion. Try and give them some grace, they were the beginning of my writing, so they weren't exactly masterpeices. I apologize for the cringe-worthy first couple parts, it took me a bit to get on my feet with writing.

* * *

ONE YEAR AND FIVE MONTHS LATER.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Remarked an annoyed Alice, as her and Dick played battleship in their cabin. Dick had taught her how to play only days ago, and she was already above his skill level. She was never interested much in playing board games as a child, but nowwdays it had become a hobby.

It wasn't until then that she realized just how much she'd grown during her time with Dick's group. When she first met Dick, he was probably somewhere around two feet taller than her. Now, she was only inches shorter. Dick had also grown a thin beard since then, and it made _him_ look older, too. He now wore the gray ball cap he found on him and Alice's first supply run together almost every day now, and today was no exception.

"The others are probably waiting for us at the main cabin, let's continue our game later, and get some breakfast." Suggested Dick. "I'm starving."

"_This isn't over_." Said Alice half-jokingly, pointing a threatening finger at Dick, "Give me a second to get ready. I'll meet you there."

"Kay."

[At that point, Dick was the closest thing I had to a best friend.]

As Dick left to get breakfast, Alice walked into the restroom, looking curiously into the mirror. I had been a while since she had looked at her reflection, and she had to admit, she was rather impressed by how much she'd changed since she first met Dick's group.

Her hair was still short(Riley, being a semi-skilled barber, made sure of that), but her face looked significantly older, and she was far more in shape than before. Her face had lost it's youth roundness it used to possess, now more chiseled and defined than before. She had gotten taller, and gained quite a bit of weight, no longer skinny, like when she first arrived at the cabins.

[The incident with Chandler had almost faded from everyone's memory. Almost. Riley was still grieving, even a year later. He was certainly doing better than the days right after it happened, but he still isolated himself, and talked much less than before. I wasn't quite sure if he'd _ever_ get over what happened.]

After combing her hair to the side, Alice walked to the cabin where the others were. The weather was warm, and the sunlight shone majestically through the trees, casting dreamy beams of light of the trail, captivating Alice's eyes. She was happy.

She passed the garden she planted a few months ago, and saw that the vegetables were now full grown. She discovered that she enjoyed gardening, something she never did before the outbreak. Having gathered gardening books from libraries on supply runs, she has rapidly become an effective gardner. Now, they only had to go on supply runs to get food very occasionally. The cabins now had strong barricades, and they had set up a small fence blocking the road leading the the parking lot, keeping mutants out.

[Yet one problem remained. There were only four of us left: Me, Dick, Riley, and Kelly. We needed more people, especially considering the fact that Kelly kept to herself, mostly.]

Alice arrived at the brown cabin, to find only Riley inside. A large pot filled with soup sat on the picnic table they kept in the cabin for breakfast.

"Hey, Riley." Said Alice awkwardly, as she got a bowl, and sat down.

"Hey."

"Where's Dick and Kelly?"

"Dick went to get water from the creek, not sure about Kelly."

Riley had also grown quite a bit over the past year, his eyes now a deeper blue than when she first met him, and he was now roughly the same size as Dick. He was more solemn than before.

Alice continued to quietly eat her food, not making eye contact, or conversation, with Riley. This was the first time they had been alone together in weeks, and it was incredibly uncomfortable. Eventually Riley finished his food and left back to his cabin, without saying a word. Alice began washing her bowl and utensils in the creek, and was looking at the mountain road in the distance, when she noticed movement on the road. A car was driving towards the cabins.

"DICK!" Called out Alice, "There's a car coming up the road, it's headed this way!"

Dick quickly ran over from up the trail(from a deeper part of the stream where they collected their water). Alice and Dick ran to the parking lot, and the car was now visible to Dick.

"Get your gun out, _now,_" Said Dick, cautiously, upholstering his pistol, "Whoever they are, they could be dangerous."

Alice pulled out her gun, which she kept tucked in her pants, hidden behind her shirt. Over the past year, she had become quite a marksman, almost as good as him. The car slowed down, as the driver saw Dick and Alice standing in the parking lot, guns drawn.

The car stopped about fifty feet from Alice and Dick, and they slowly walked over the investigate. The car was a autumn-colored van, and Alice could see at least three people inside from her angle. She kept her gun trained on the driver, as he slowly exited the car.

"Howdy." Said the man, in a heavy southern accent.

"Cut the shit, cowboy." Said Dick impatiently, "Who are you?"

"Name's Mac."

Mac made a hand gesture, signaling the others in his group to exit the car. They exited, some with guns in their hands. Three men(including Mac), and two women. Alice was surprised to notice that one of the women wore an eye patch.

"Dick." Said Dick, as Mac extended his hand.

"Why are you here?" Asked Dick, without shaking Mac's hand. If Mac's group attacked them, it was obvious that Alice and Dick wouldn't stand a chance.

"Been travelin' a while," Explained Mac, "Figured the mountains were the best place to set up camp, n' then we found you."

"I'm Alice." Said Alice, extending her hand, much to Dick's dismay.

Mac shook her hand. He had a strong grip, and calloused hands. Mac was a thick man, with thin blonde hair, and disarming brown eyes. He wore a black vest, and Alice could tell that there was a gun in one of the inside pockets, making her wary of his intentions.

"Y'all got a camp up here?" Asked Mac.

Alice hesitated.

"Yeah." Said Alice after a few seconds.

"Look, we're low on supplies," Said the woman with the eyepatch, "We need help. If you have anything, food, water, anything helps."

"There's a stream next to our camp, we could get you some water." Said Alice, prompting Dick to pull her to side.

"Give me a second to talk to Alice." Said Dick to Mac, bringing Alice out of Mac's hearing range.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Whispered Dick loudly, "These people outnumber us in firepower _and_ group size!"

"That's exactly why we need their help. We can't keep living here with just the four of us. We need more people."

"All I'm saying is, be careful."

"Do you really think you have to remind me?"

Alice and Dick walked back over to Mac and his group.

"We don't have much to offer when it comes to food, but we've got plenty of water, and we can give you a place to stay the night." Offered Dick, surprising Alice.

"Um, thank you, that's very gener'us. Let me introduce ya to ma' group."

Mac introduced the woman with the eye patch as Lana, and the other woman as Phyllis. The two men other than Mac were Denny and Kent.

"You got anyone else in ya group?" Asked Mac, slightly alarming Alice.

"Two." Said Dick. "By the way, I'm Dick."

"Pleasure t' meet ya." Said Mac, finally shaking Dick's hand.

"Follow me." Said Dick, leading them down the trail towards the cabins.

"Let's hope you're right about these people." Whispered Dick in Alice's ear.

* * *

Less than an hour later, Alice's group gathered inside Dick and her's cabin, discussing the newcomers, as Mac's group settled in their cabin further up the trail. Dick made the decision to have them all sleep in the same cabin for the first night, just to be safe.

"We can't trust them," Warned Kelly, "I can tell, they're dangerous."

"Well we can't just make them leave." Said Riley.

[Even though Riley was still messed up after Zella's death, I could still see his personality. He always saw the best in people, and Mac's group was no different.]

"On top of that, we don't have enough food for them," Noted Kelly, who was unusually talkative on the matter, "Our garden has barely enough to sustain the four of us, much less nine."

"Well then we'll go on a supply run, we need to anyways," Said Alice, "We should at least give them a chance to prove themselves. It's just the four of us left, we need to look out for each other, I get that, but we can't just kick them out."

"I agree, it's not as if we have just about _any_ other option." Agreed Riley.

"Actually, we do, it's called 'kicking their asses off our property'." Said Kelly, yet somehow, not jokingly.

"We give them a day, if they do anything, and I mean _anything_, suspicious, we kick them out, with force if needed," Said Dick, "Each of us need a gun."

Dick handed Kelly and Riley each a handgun, keeping a rifle hidden under his bed, just in case.

[After the Chandler incident, Dick and I tried to keep the guns between me and him, except on special exceptions. This was definetly an exception.]

"Who made _you_ the leader?" Asked Kelly sarcastically.

"You got a better idea?"

Kelly rolled her eyes.

"I'll take that as a no." Retorted Alice, "I say me and Riley go on a supply run with some of Mac's group, while you two stay here and keep the cabins safe."

"Agreed." Said Dick, Riley, and eventually Kelly.

* * *

Alice, Riley, Denny, and Lana sat awkwardly in the backseat of the van, as Mac drove them down the mountain road. It took them only about an hour to reach a part of the city at the base of the mountain which they hadn't looted yet. They exited the car inside an abandoned residential neighborhood, much like the one Alice met Dick in.

"A'ight then, let's split up t' cover more ground." Ordered Mac. "Lana, you go wit' Alice. Denny, ya go with Riley. I'm gon' search alone."

Alice didn't enjoy being ordered around, but went with Lana anyways, to search a large mansion sitting in the middle of the neighborhood. Just outside the large metal gates of the mansion sat a sign.

"Welcome to Hayman Manor"

Alice and Lana hopped over the gates without much difficulty, and walked across the yellow grass, to the large rosewood door towering over their heads.

"So, your name's Lana, right?" Asked Alice, trying to start conversation.

"Yep."

"Um, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your eye?"

"...When I was somewhere around five years old I got in a car accident. I lost my left eye in the accident..." Lana paused. "...And my mom."

"Oh. I'm-...sorry to hear that."

Lana was a rather tall, red-haired woman, with olive green eyes(or _eye_, in her case). She wore a blue hoodie, and her hair was woven into a messy ponytail. She looked like a tough woman, and that made her somewhat intimidating.

Alice tried to break down the front door of the manor, but it was too strong.

"Damn rich people, this door feels like it's made of steel!" Thought an annoyed Alice.

"Whoever owned this place certainly had security in mind, I doubt we'll be able to get in through the front." Noted Lana, as she scouted for a better entrance.

"Let's try kicking the door down, this time _together_." Suggested Alice.

Alice and Lana walked back to the gate, and sprinted forward into the door with all their might. The door finally cracked, and a few more hits could open it completely. However, an ear-shattering alarm suddenly began echoing throughout the house, activated by the door being broken. Generator-powered alarm.

The loud noise echoed through the entire neighborhood, drawing mutants to the manor.

"SHIT!" Exclaimed Lana over the noise, as mutants began to pile up at the gate.

The gates kept the mutants out, but they also kept Lana and Alice in, blocking their only path of exit.

"FOLLOW MY LEAD, I HAVE A PLAN!" Announced Alice, her voice sounding like a loud whisper over the sound of the alarm. "GIVE ME A BOOST!"

Lana boosted Alice onto the Manor's wall, and Alice used her hand to pull Lana up as well. The wall was about five or six feet off the ground, barely out of the reach of the mutants.

"WHAT NOW?" Asked Lana.

"WE JUMP."

"WHAT?!"

"IF WE JUMP FAR ENOUGH, WE'LL LAND JUST PAST THE MUTANTS, AND WE CAN RUN FROM THERE."

Lana reluctantly nodded in agreement. Alice got as close as she could to a running start on the thin wall, and leaped over the heads of the mutants, sailing through the air. A mutant reached upwards, grabbing her foot mid-air. The mutant wasn't able to hold on, but instead managed to trip Alice, causing her to land directly on her knees.

A sharp, biting pain shot up Alice's back. She landed wrong, and she could tell that she messed her back up in one way or the other, but didn't have time to think. Only time to run.

Lana jumped immediately afterwards, and landed slightly farther than Alice, recovering quickly. She grabbed Alice by the arm, and tugged her away from the mutants. The two of them sprinted as fast as possible, back towards the van.

* * *

Alice and Lana arrived at the van to find the others waiting for them.

"Are y' okay?" Asked Mac.

Lana nodded, and her and Alice quickly climbed into the van. The van sped off, with the Manor's alarm resounding in the distance.

"Did y' find an'thing useful?" Asked Mac, on the way up the mountainous road.

"We found enough food to last us a day, maybe two if we stretch it." Reported Denny.

"I found a couple things t' eat, but nuthin' much."

Alice, Lana, Riley, Mac, and Denny kept silent for most of the ride back, taking in the scenery, and catching their breath after the incident at the manor.

* * *

After getting back, Alice decided to go back to her cabin and read a book, because Dick was too busy to finish their game of battleship. While nearing the door to her cabin, she noticed Riley hiking up the trail, past where is cabin is.

"You going on a hike?" Asked Alice.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Mind if I come?"

"No, it's fine."

Alice caught up to him, walking silently. He was acting a bit awkward, not talking much at all.

"You think we can trust these people?" She asked, "You didn't talk much when we were meeting earlier."

"I guess- maybe. I'm kind of with Kelly on this one. Trusting strangers ends badly."

"I trusted _you_, didn't I?"

"Yeah...I guess so."

* * *

After talking to Riley for about an hour after, Alice finally left to go back to her cabin.

Alice could hear movement inside her cabin, as she prepared to get her things to move into the brown cabin, which the others were staying in for the night.

"Hey, Dick." Greeted Alice, as she walked in. But it wasn't Dick. It was Denny, rummaging through her backpack.

"What the hell are you doing?" Questioned Alice. She had left her gun inside the cabin, and could see it in his pocket.

Suddenly, a heavy metal object slammed into the back of Alice's head, knocking her unconscious.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Thanks for reading!

Next Chapter - Alice gains an unlikely ally, and is forced to make a promise which proves hard to keep.


	6. In Harm's Way

**Author's Note:**

Big news, guys! I'm now accepting OC's from my readers. If you want to create your own character, and have them introduced into Survivor, PM me with the following character info:

1) Name

2) Physical Description(Please give me lots of info in this section)

3) Personality

4) Arsenal(what weapons they use, no crossbows/any type of bows please)

5) Backstory/Biography(one paragraph minimum, post and pre outbreak)

6) Preferred Future(what you'd like to see me do with the character)

7) Anything else you'd like to know about your character

NOTE: I will decide the character's fate. The more interesting your character is, the longer they last. I am currently only accepting up to three OCs, although there will be other opportunities throughout the series.

P.S. I have officially published two chapters of my other Walking Dead fanfiction series, It;d be a great favor if you could check it out for me and review. I'm so far splitting my attention between to two series, but there hopefully won't be much of a delay in chapter publishment. I must admit, my other series is slightly better than this one in my opinion. The two series exist in the same universe.

Quick synopsis of my other series: Carol and Daryl, the only remaining survivors of Alexandria, must struggle to survive without the others, along with deal with the grief of losing everyone else. After hearing of a possible safe haven, they are both pushed to the limit, as they try to survive the journey there.(Daryl/OC romance subplot)

Without further adieu, I present Chapter 6 of Survivor.

* * *

Alice awoke with duct tape over her mouth, her hands and feet bound as well. She was inside her and Dick's cabin, along with Mac and Lana.

"Welcome back, sleepyhead." Greeted Mac deviously when he saw Alice's eyes flutter open. Mac stepped forward, and removed the tape from her mouth. He made sure to keep his gun aimed at her head the entire time.

"Y' scream, yer dead." Threatened Mac. Alice nodded reluctantly.

"Why are you doing this?"

"'Cause, a man's gotta make a livin'. Yer group has s'pplies, we gonna take 'em."

"Then why not just kill me?"

[Not that I wanted to die or anything, but I could tell he had a plan, and it had had something to do with _me_.]

"B'cause, we're gonna need a hostage."

"Mac, this wasn't a part of the pla-" Began Lana.

"Shut the fuck up, Lana." Commanded Mac with hostility. Lana glared at him, but remained silent.

[I could tell that Lana wasn't on board with whatever Mac was planning on doing. I could tell she was only doing this out of fear for Mac. But then again, I barely knew her.]

Alice knew exactly what Mac had planned. He was going to use her as a hostage to take the group's supplies, and possibly kill them afterwards. Mac's group had been against them from the beginning. Alice felt a wave of anger sweep over her, along with a sense of betrayal.

"You don't have to do this." Advised Alice, but she knew it was no use.

"Yes, I do. We gotta do what we gotta do t' survive." Said Mac. "Lana, you watch her, while I go gather th' others." Mac put the tape back over Alice's mouth, and walked out of the cabin, leaving Lana and Alice alone in the cabin. Lana aimed her gun at Alice, her hands shaking slightly. Alice said something, which was muffled by the tape.

"What?" Asked Lana, removing the tape over Alice's mouth. "I swear if you scream, you'll regret it."

"You don't have to do this. You don't want to, I can tell."

"Even if I _could_ help you, why would I?"

"Because you're a good person, I could tell the moment you told me about how you lost your eye. You're scared of Mac, I get that. But if you don't help me stop him, that fear is never going to end."

"I'm not scared of anything, including Mac."

"Either way, I can tell you don't want to do this."

"So, let's say I decide to help you. How would we stop Mac?"

"We find the others in my group, and warn them. We catch Mac and his group by surprise, kill them if necessary."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You don't have to."

Lana slowly lowered her weapon, as her face softened. She sighed.

"Fine. Let's do this. I'll help you stop Mac, but on _one condition_." Caved Lana.

"What?"

"After we stop him, you have to let me join your group, become _one of you_."

"...Deal." Lana cut Alice free, and they shook hands.

[To be honest, I was surprised she turned on Mac so quickly. I wasn't expecting her to help me.]

Lana handed Alice her gun back(along with her baseball bat), and the two cautiously crept out of the house together, moving up the trail, staying out of sight.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Whispered Lana.

"_Hell no_."

As they approached one of the cabins, they could see Phyllis standing outside. Alice quickly whispered her plan into Lana's ear.

Alice stayed out of sight behind a log, as Lana walked up to Phyllis.

"Shouldn't you be keepin' an eye on that bitch in the cabin?" Asked Phyllis. "Mac said-"

Lana grabbed Phyllis, and covered Phyllis' mouth with her hand. Phyllis tried to speak, to no avail.

"C'mon!" Whispered Lana loudly. Alice ran over to Phyllis, and hit her it the face(hard) with her baseball bat. Phyllis fell to the floor unconscious.

[A baseball bat to the head, courtesy of "that bitch in the cabin".]

"That'll keep her out for a while." Mocked Alice.

"Let's hide her in the cabin, and keep moving."

[Me and Lana were in over our heads, but making a deal with her was the only choice I had.]

* * *

Alice and Lana cautiously continued to walk up the tail, looking for Dick and the others.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?!" Exclaimed Kent from behind them. Lana and Alice turned around, to see Kent aiming his handgun at Lana.

"The right thing, for once in my fucking life." Answered Lana firmly, gun ready.

Alice jumped to the side, shooting at him mid-air. Kent whirled to the side, and fired at Alice. Both missed, but Lana didn't, firing one bullet into Kent's leg, and another into his torso.

"So much for being stealthy." Commented Lana. Lana and Alice began to hear yells from up the trail.

"THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Exclaimed Mac, nearby.

Alice and Lana hid by the side of the trail behind a rock, as footsteps got closer and closer. Riley, Dick, and Kelly walked slowly into view, with Mac and Denny holding guns to their backs.

"Alice, we know yer out here. Ain't quite sure how y' got out, but we'll shoot ev'ry one a' ya' friends if y' don't com' out." Said Mac, loudly.

"Alice, don't listen to him!" Commanded Dick.

"Sneak around behind Mac, I'll distract him. He doesn't know you're here." Whispered Alice into Lana's ear. Alice stood up, gun raised, into the sight of Mac and Denny.

"I killed Lana, Kent, and Phyllis. You're both next if you don't hand over my friends." Said Alice, as convincingly as possible, failing miserably.

"Bitch, ya' ain't foolin' nobody. I know yer working wit' Lana, she's probably behind that rock ov'r there."

Alice didn't have a clear shot at either Mac or Denny, and even if she did, she would probably miss. If either Denny or Mac was shot, the other would shoot Alice's group, which meant they had to be killed at the same time. Suddenly, Kelly jumped up, and backwards headbutted Mac, knocking his gun upwards. Denny panicked, and fired a bullet directly into Riley's chest.

"NO!" Screamed Alice, as Riley fell to the ground. A bullet suddenly tore through Denny's chest, fired by Lana. Before Mac could react, Dick slammed into him, knocking him to the ground, his gun sliding out of his hand. Dick used his foot to stomp Mac's face several times, knocking him unconscious.

Alice ran to Riley's side. He had lost a lot of blood, and none of them were medics. Lana, Kelly and Dick quickly joined her.

"Wh-what do we do?" Asked a panicking Alice.

"I had some minor field medic expertise during boot camp, I- maybe I can help him. We have some medical supplies in the brown cabin, we need to get him there quick, before he bleeds out!"

Dick struggled to pick up Riley, and ran with him back to the brown cabin. Lana stood over Mac's unconscious body with her gun aimed at his bloodied face.

"You deserved this." She said coldly, pulling the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the forest, as Lana walked away from Mac's corpse.

* * *

"Alice, I need you to get some more bandages!" Ordered Dick, inside the brown cabin, as he tried to bandage Riley's chest as best as he could. Riley's skin was starting to pale, as more and more blood drained out of him. It appeared that the bleeding was slowing, but it was hard to tell. Riley was lying down on the lunch table, blood staining the wood.

Eventually, there was nothing left to do but wait. Dick had done everything he could, and now Alice and the others had no option but to wait, and hope Riley survives.

"Is he going to be okay?" Asked Lana sympathetically, looking at the wound on Riley's chest, and cringing.

"Not sure. I've done the best I can, but it's honestly out of our control at this point." Replied Dick.

"Well, while we're waiting, how about we talk about the _other _problem in the room. Why the fuck is _she_ here, much less alive?!" Exclaimed Kelly, pointing at Lana.

"She helped us stop Mac. We'd all be dead if it wasn't for her. I promised to let her join the group." Answered Alice defensively.

"Who gives a shit? She was _a part of his group_, Alice! It's obvious she can't be trusted!" Kelly pulled out her handgun, and aimed it at Lana's chest.

"Kelly, calm the fuck down." Ordered Dick. "We've got enough problems as it is."

"Why should I?! I'm not ready for a rerun of the 'Chandler incident'!" Said Kelly loudly.

"Kelly, put the gun down." Commanded Alice, who now had her gun raised as well. "I made a promise, and I'm going to keep it."

"It's _your fault _Mac's group attacked us in the first place! If you hadn't been a dumbass and let them in with open arms, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Yelled Kelly.

"Blaming each other isn't going to help _anyone_." Remarked Dick.

Kelly sighed, and lowered her gun. "Let's hope your fucking promise is worth it."

"Look, I'm willing to do what I need to to prove I can be trusted." Defended Lana. "I can earn my keep."

"Fine then. But the very _second_ it's proven otherwise, you're dead." Threatened Kelly, storming out of the cabin.

[To be honest, I wasn't entirely sure that Kelly was wrong at the time. After all, Lana _was _a part of Mac's group.]

* * *

Late that night, Alice lay on her sleeping bag in her and Dick's cabin. Dick was taking care of Riley, and had decided to stay the night in the brown cabin. Riley's bleeding had stopped, but he was still unconscious, and there was still a possibility that he'd never wake up. Lana was temporarily sleeping in her cabin, on the bed which Dick normally slept in.

[The only reason Lana slept in my cabin that night was because no one but me would sleep anywhere _near_ her. I admit I was nervous, but relatively confident I could keep myself safe if she tried anything. I made a promise, and I was damn sure I'd keep it. That day we searched for Phyllis(the girl I hit with my baseball bat), but she had disappeared, probably ran down the mountain after waking up. I never saw her again, my guess is I never will.]

At this point her original journal was completely full, and she had a small stash of notebooks in the bathroom which she wrote in. She couldn't sleep. Because of what happened to Riley. Because of Lana. After the incident with Chandler, things seemed to be settling down. But after the past day, Alice was beginning to realize: things were always going to be this way. They'd always be running, in one way or another. They'd always be in danger.

"Alice?" Whispered Lana, suddenly breaking the sound of crickets outside. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah."

"...I've changed my mind."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm leaving the group." Alice was surprised, after all, Lana was the one who wanted to join _in the first place_.

"Why?" Alice knew the answer to that question long before she asked.

"_You know why_. Your group doesn't trust me, and I understand why. It's better that I leave."

[I couldn't think of a response. What was I supposed to tell her? I didn't fully trust her, and the others sure as hell didn't either. But for some reason, I didn't want her to go.]

Alice kept silent.

"I'll leave first thing in the morning."

* * *

Alice, Lana, and the others ate breakfast in silence the next day, sitting at the lunch table together, Kelly eyeing Lana warily the entire time. Riley lay in the bedroom, bandaged and covered by bloodied sheets. After she finished eating, Lana stood up in front of everyone awkwardly.

"Um, look, I know you guys don't trust me, which is completely understandable...so I'm leaving." She announced. Dick and Kelly were both slightly surprised, and Kelly had a satisfied look on her face.

"...Well, _you don't have to_..." Objected Dick passively.

"Look, if you're leaving, at least let us give you some food to get you started. I know what it's like to be alone out there, and trust me, it isn't easy." Offered Alice, before Lana could respond to Dick.

"Hell no!" Exclaimed Kelly. Alice shot her a glare that silenced her quickly.

"Yeah...sure, thanks." Accepted Lana.

"This is ridiculous! After what Mac did to Riley-" Began and enraged Kelly.

Lana boldly reached over, and slapped Kelly directly across the face.

"What the hell is your problem? You don't trust me, _I get that_. But I'm not responsible for what Mac and the others did. Whatever's making you so hostile, it's _your_ problem, not mine." Said Lana firmly.

Rage burned in Kelly's eyes, as she swung at Lana. Lana easily stepped out of the way. Kelly began to say something, but instead held her tongue, and stormed out of the cabin.

[There was rarely a conversation in that cabin that _didn't _end with Kelly storming out of the room.]

"Bitch." Muttered Lana under her breath.

"We've got some food in the garden to give you, and I'll give you a ride down the mountain and drop you off." Said Dick. Lana nodded.

"I still don't think you should leave _in the first place_." Objected Alice.

"It's okay...I've made my decision." Confirmed Lana.

"Well then, I'll help you get packed." Offered Alice reluctantly.

* * *

[After I helped Lana get packed, she and Dick drove down the mountain, and he dropped her off at the bottom with a small portion of our food. I was disappointed to see her leave, but I could understand why. But then something unexpected happened, as usual.]

About four hours later, Alice checked in with Dick through a walkie-talkie.

"Have you dropped Lana off yet?" She asked.

"Umm...about that..." Replied Dick, his voice distorted through the walkie-talkie.

"Dick...what's going on?"

"I'll explain when I get back to the cabins. Long story short: Lana won't be leaving anytime soon. We've got a few things that need to get sorted out beforehand."

"Dick, tell me what's going on."

"We've got company."

-=|To be continued|=-

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Chapter 7, "Origins" Synopsis/Preview: Alice's past is further explained, in a flashback detailing her time at the refugee camp, and the fate of her original group.


	7. Origins

THREE YEARS BEFORE THE OUTBREAK.

Alice and Clark sat atop the roof of the orphanage, the soft chilly morning breeze engulfing them, as they quietly watched the sun rise. They did this often, as it was one of the few times they could have pace and quiet.

"You know...if you keep running away, they're not going to let us hang out anymore." Warned Alice, breaking the serene quiet. Clark didn't respond, his dirty blonde hair blowing gently in the wind.

"Clark, I'm serious." Said an annoyed Alice, grabbing him by the arm.

"I know," Replied Clark, avoiding eye contact, "It's just...I hate it here."

"I hate it too, _you know that._ Trying to run away won't solve anything."

"Maybe not."

"_Definetly not."_

Alice had always been the wiser and more mature of the two friends, even at twelve years old. She wasn't quite sure what she and Clark were; maybe friends, maybe best friends, maybe something more. Either way, Clark was just about the only one who cared.

"...You think we'll ever get out of here?" Asked Clark a few moments later.

"Yeah. One way, or another."

"Mrs. Aileen says you might get adopted soon." Alice could tell that Clark had tried to say it cheerfully, but it was obvious he was saddened.

"Maybe...I'm not sure yet."

"I hope you do...it's about time one of us leaves this god-forsaken place."

"...I'm gonna miss you."

"You too." Alice's eyes met Clark's bright green ones. Suddenly, Alice leaned forward, and kissed him. It was sudden, but felt right. Clark was surprised at first, but didn't pull away. Eventually they gently separated. Neither could think of anything to say, so Clark held Alice's hand, and they continued staring into the sunrise.

* * *

ONE WEEK AFTER THE OUTBREAK.

Hal sat on a log by the firepit, finishing his breakfast. His dark brown hair hung over his face, covering his light brown eyes. Footsteps sounded behind him, and he turned around. Iris stood behind him, looking slightly alarmed.

"Hal...there's something you need to see." Said Iris, gesturing for him to follow, as she walked towards the far side of the camp, where most of the vehicles were parked. Hal could hear the sound of a motor still running, as he and Iris neared what she wanted to show him. Almost everyone else in the camp had gathered around, watching Sergeant Jhenn help a little girl out of his truck. Sergeant Jhenn and a few others had just gone into the city to look for supplies about three hours ago. Jhenn was the leader of the refugee camp, and one of the few people there who knew how to use a gun.

"Who the hell is she?" Whispered Hal to Iris, as she stood beside Lou.

"Some girl Jhenn found on a supply run, looks like she's injured or something." Answered Lou, trying to get a better look at the girl, who was being bandaged by Sergeant Jhenn on the bed of the truck.

"Is she okay?"

"Not sure, looks like she got quite a few scrapes n' bruises."

Sergeant Jhenn gestured for the crowd to move, as he led the girl to a tent in the center of the camp. He continued to bandage her inside, and Hal could hear chatter.

"Is she bit?" Asked Iris warily.

"Doubt it. Jhenn would'a put 'er down already if that was the case." Answered Lou.

"Let's go see." Suggested Hal. He peeked inside the tent to see a scrawny teenage girl with blonde hair hanging down to her shoulders. Her hair had small faded pink spots on it, making it evident that it was once dyed.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you. Can you tell me your name?" Asked Sergeant Jhenn.

"...A-Alice." Stuttered the girl nervously.

* * *

FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE OUTBREAK.

Hal, Iris, Lou, Nick, and Alice walked cautiously through the abandoned town, exhausted.

"We need to find somewhere to sleep, it's getting dark." Announced Hal, looking around for a safe place to stay.

"Hal's right, we can't just keep wandering around." Agreed Nick.

"...I saw a warehouse on the way in, we could camp there." Suggested Alice.

"Maybe, let's go check it out." Said Hal.

Hal and the others walked to a small grey warehouse on the outskirts of the city, which looked relatively secure, having a large metal door with a locking mechanism. The door hung open, with a few stray mutants inside, wandering around the shelves, which held wood and other building supplies.

"There's plenty of wood inside, we could start a fire pretty easily..." Noted Lou. When the outbreak had first started, Lou was relatively overweight, but in his time with the refugee camp survivors, he was now about average, his light blonde hair hanging down just above his shoulders.

"I say we put it to a vote." Suggested Hal. Hal was the unspoken leader of the group. Everyone knew it, but he wouldn't admit it out loud. He tried his best to work with them as a team, but often times the others looked up to him to make the decisions.

"I say we find somewhere else, and take the wood with us, the warehouse could be hard to secure." Said Lou.

"I'm with Lou." Agreed Iris.

"I say we make things simple, and stay at the warehouse," Voted Nick, "We don't have time to go looking for a different place to stay, the sun's already beginning to set."

"I say we camp at the warehouse, at least for tonight." Voted Hal.

"...Looks like you're the deciding vote, Alice." Said Iris, as she and the others turned to face the young teenager.

"I say we stay here." Voted Alice confidently.

"...Looks like it's decided then." Said Lou.

* * *

A little over an hour later, Hal and Iris stood watch outside the warehouse silently, watching the city for any mutants nearby.

"...We're not gonna make it." Said Iris, as if talking to herself, breaking the silence suddenly.

"What?"

"You heard me, _we're not going to make it."_

"The hell're you talking about?"

"These people, everyone except us, even Lou. _They're weak. We're not going to make it, not with them holding us back._"

"Don't talk like that, you know that's not true.

"It is, and it's only a matter of time before you realize what I'm talking about."

"The hell do you expect me to do bout it? I'm _barely_ holding the group together as it is!" Whispered Hal loudly, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

"You should leave. Just you, me, and Lou."

"You mean I should just leave the others behind?!" Hal's voice was getting louder.

"...Let's go to sleep. Alice tied the door shut, we don't need to stand guard." Iris walked away, back into the warehouse with Hal following close behind. Alice re-tied the door behind them in a rush, and they all went to sleep.

* * *

Hal couldn't sleep, and neither could the others. Mutants were banging on the door to the warehouse, more and more gathering with each passing minute. The door quivered, putting strain on the ropes holding it shut with every hit. He could see the rope slowly breaking, strand by strand.

"That rope's not gonna hold, we need to tie that door more secure!" He whispered loudly, standing up, "Alice, get some rope, there ought to be some in my backpack! Everyone else, help me keep the door closed!"

Alice stood up, and ran through the warehouse to Hal's backpack, and retrieved some rope, as Hal and the others pushed against the door, now pushed ajar by the mutants outside, completely snapping the rope that was previously holding it shut.

Alice ran to Hal and the others with a bundle of rope in her hands, quickly tying it around the doorknob. Several mutants had already reached their arms in, making it impossible for Alice to effectively tie the rope to the heavy anchored shelf it was previously tied to.

"I can't get it tied!" Exclaimed Alice, now helping the others hold the door shut.

The mutants slowly pushed the door further back, eventually allowing three of them to slip into the warehouse.

"They're inside!" Yelled Nick, breaking away from the door to fight the three mutants. He managed to kill them, but without his strength helping them, the others could no longer hold the door shut. The mutants busted through, knocking Alice to the ground, as the others retreated deeper into the warehouse.

Alice quickly recovered, and narrowly escaped the oncoming mutant horde.

"There's no back exit, we're gonna have to lead the mutants in a loop around the warehouse so we can get to the front door safely!" Said Hal, keeping ahead of the others, running in a broad circle around the warehouse.

He kept running, and eventually made it to the front door, only then realizing that the others weren't with him. Nick had ran in between two of the shelves, being trapped between two groups of mutants. There was nothing Hal or the others could do, as Nick was devoured by the mutants in a jumbled mess of yells,moans, and the sound of tearing flesh.

"Oh God..." Muttered Hal in shock, as the others met him at the door.

"We have to go!" Yelled Alice, leading the others away from the warehouse, taking one last look at the crowd of mutants gathering over Nick's body inside.

* * *

Four hours later, Hal, Alice, Iris, and Lou sat by the campfire silently. None of them felt like talking, not after what happened.

"Guys...the- there's something I need...to tell you..." Stuttered Lou, breaking the bitter silence.

"Lou...this isn't the time." Said Hal, cutting him off.

"Yes...it- it is." Said Lou quietly, "I wanted to tell you goodbye."

"The hell are you talking about?" Asked a worried Iris. Lou pulled up the sleeve of his jacket, revealing several bite marks. Iris gasped, her eyes becoming bleary.

"I-...I didn't run fast enough." Said Lou, in a whisper-like tone.

Iris didn't speak. She just sat there, staring at him.

"I'm sorry. I- I'm so...sorry." Stuttered Lou, pulling his gun out of his jacket, and aiming it at his head.

"LOU, NO!" Yelled Hal in vain, unable to stop Lou from pulling the trigger. The gunshot echoed through the forest, as Lou dropped to the floor by Hal's feet.

* * *

"Iris, stop!" Exclaimed Hal, trying to pull her off of Alice. It had been only days since Lou had died, and Iris was only getting worse.

"IT'S HER FAULT!" Screamed Iris, grabbing Alice tightly by the shirt.

"Let go of me!" Commanded Alice, trying to pry Iris' hands away.

"Iris, calm down!" Said Hal as quietly as possible, trying not to attract mutants, "What happened to Lou and Nick wasn't anyone's fault!"

"SHE TIED THE DOOR WRONG, SHE LET THEM IN!" Argued Iris, just before Hal finally managed to pull her away. She finally broke down, crying in Hal's arms. Alice stood up, and slowly backed away warily.

"It's her fault..." Sobbed Iris.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Hey guys, I'm sorry I wasn't able to make this one longer, I've been really busy. List of things I've been wanting to tell you:

1) I know that a lot of people like to read without reviewing, but it'd be a huge favor to me if you guys could review the chapters you read, even if you've already reviewed other chapters in the past. If you don't have time for anything else, then I request that you at least rate the chapter on a scale of 1-10.

2) If you want to create your own character for Survivor, follow the rules presented in the previous chapter. I cannot guarantee that they'll be introduced soon.

3) You probably noticed that this chapter doesn't really feature Alice as the main character. I plan on occasionally doing flashback chapters, which may sometimes focus on a character other than Alice.

4) I know this chapter was pretty heavily focused on emotion, and if you're not the type who enjoys that sort of thing, the next few chapters may not be your favorites. THE FEELS TRAIN HAS NO BRAKES.

5) The next chapter will also be a flashback, to give me some time to put a lot of work into Chapter 9, which will bring us into the current day storyline, and introduce some new characters, including the ones which my fans submitted. I apologize if you don't like the flashback chapters.

Chapter 8, "Change" Preview/Synopsis: In another flashback chapter which explores the origins of Kelly; as Kelly's world begins to fall apart, she becomes hardened, and realizes the brutal truth about the world, morphing her into the person she will one day become at the cabins.


	8. Change

FIVE MONTHS AFTER THE OUTBREAK.

Kelly, Chris, Jaime, and Topher ran as fast as their feet could carry them, with Jaime lagging behind. The horde of eaters was close behind them, hindered only by their erratic limping movements. Kelly held Chris' hand tightly, trying not to look behind at the crowd of eaters waiting to feast behind her.

Suddenly, Kelly heard Jaime scream, but it was too late. She looked back to see Jaime being bitten on the arm by an eater, soon followed by several others.

"ARGH! HEEELP!" Screamed Jaime, trying to yank the eaters off of herself.

Kelly tried to run to help Jaime, but Chris held her back.

"Kelly, don't!" Yelled Chris, tightly gripping her forearm, as Topher ran to help Jaime.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?! WE GOTTA HELP JAIME!" Screamed Kelly, trying to free herself from Chris' grip.

"Kelly, it's too late, we can't help her! She's already been bit!" Exclaimed Chris, while Kelly and Topher watched in horror, as Jaime was ripped apart by eaters.

"You bastard!" Screamed Kelly with bleary eyes, slapping Chris across the face. When she and Chris first got married, they were happy, and he was a completely different person. He protected her. He saved her. He comforted her. But as things got worse, he became hardened.

"We- we have to go..." Said Chris softly, tugging her away. Her, Chris, and Topher ran off into the forest. As soon as they reached the trees, Kelly vomited on the base of a bush. Chris looked at her sympathetically, and placed his hand on her shoulder, s she cried by the tree.

"Go away..." Moaned Kelly, holding her hand over her eyes.

"Kelly, I'm so-" Began Chris, pulling her towards him, as Topher sat on a rock nearby.

"GO AWAY! GO AWAY, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Screamed Kelly, taking a swing at Chris, and running away, deeper into the forest. Chris and Topher ran off after her.

"Kelly, wait!" Called out Chris, finally catching up to Kelly, and grabbing her by the arm.

"YOU KILLED HER! YOU FUCKING KILLED HER!" Screamed Kelly, hitting Chris repeatedly. Suddenly, Chris hit her back, knocking her to the ground.

"Don't you fucking get it?! We don't live in a world of second chances! Jaime was doomed the second she got bit! For God's sake Kelly, open your eyes!" Yelled Chris, his curly black hair flaying wildly over his face. "Things have changed. We do what we need to to survive, it's time you accept that. We live in a world of evolution, _you change or you die!_"

Kelly clutched her bruised face, glaring at him, as Topher watched in shock.

"...We- we, um, need to keep moving." Said Topher, a few moments later, looking at Chris warily.

* * *

Kelly was solemn as usual, as she and Topher searched the barn for supplies. She, him, and Chris had found the farm the night before, and slept in a shed on the outskirts of the large field of decayed crops. Lowering her machete after finding no danger in sight, she began to stuff a bundle of hay into a plastic grocery bag to use as tinder for a fire later.

"Kelly," Began Topher, lingering before continuing his sentence, "It's been _four days _since Jaime died, and you've barely spoken to anyone, especially Chris. The hell's going on between you two?"

"What do you _think's_ going on between us?" Replied Kelly, "He's unstable to say the least-...he's not the man I married. We've _both_ changed."

"Well at least stop ignoring each other," Requested Topher, "I can't stand this anymore."

After gathering anything useful they could find, Topher and Kelly went into the small farmhouse, meeting Chris inside. Chris was lying lazily on the couch with his eyes closed, not bothering to turn his head or open his eyes as they entered.

"Find anything useful?" He asked, still not moving.

Topher waited for Kelly to respond, but it became clear she didn't feel like talking, as usual.

"A little; some stuff for a fire, but other than that, nothing worth keeping." Reported Topher a moment later.

"Typical." Commented Chris, making Kelly roll her eyes at him.

Chris snuggled back into the couch, eyes still closed, and continued resting.

* * *

"Kelly." Chris whispered into Kelly's ear, "Kelly, are you awake?"

Kelly's eyes fluttered open, and she let out a groggy moan.

"Shh." Whispered Chris, before Kelly could say anything, "I need to talk to you, come into the living room with me, _be quiet_."

A confused Kelly got out of her sleeping bag, and followed Chris into the living room silently. Chris quietly closed the door to the bedroom which Topher was sleeping in.

"What's this about?" Asked Kelly.

"I- I, um, I've made a decision..." Whispered Chris, "About us. About Topher."

"What're you talking about?" Replied Kelly, lowering her voice.

"I think we should leave Topher behind." Said Chirs flatly, shocking Kelly.

"What?!" Whispered Kelly, louder than she intended.

"Shh!" Whispered Chris, "Kelly, _think about it_. We're a team, he's holding us back. I say we take our things, and leave. Right now, while he's sleeping."

"Hell no!" Whispered Kelly.

Chris seemed surprised at her answer.

"Why not?"

"Because it's fucking crazy, that's why!"

Chris paused.

"Fine. Forget I asked."

Chris walked away, and got back into her sleeping bag. Kelly did the same.

* * *

Kelly didnt sleep much that night, and awoke late. Slowly exiting her sleeping bag, she walked down the hallway, and began to hear conversation in the living room. Staying quiet, she listened in.

"You sure about this?" Asked Topher in a whisper, which she could barely hear.

"Yeah," Confirmed Chris, "You in?"

Topher paused. Kelly didnt hear anything, so she assumed he nodded.

"We need to get our stuff packed." Said Chris.

"She'll be waking up any minute now," Whispered Topher, with some commotion which she assumed was packing, "You sure this is a good idea?"

"Shut up and pack," Hissed Chris, "We don't have time for this."

"Time for what?" Confronted Kelly, stepping into view.

Chris and Topher froze. Kelly tried to think of an explanation for what she'd seen and heard, but only one existed. The packing. The whispering. They were going to leave her behind. Chris had turned on her just as quick as he did Topher, and she knew it, clenching her fists tightly.

"Oh, um, we were just-" Stammered Topher, with an awkward smile.

"Just what?" Asked Kelly, instinctively placing her hand to her belt, now realizing that her gun wasn't there. She didn't bring it with her into the room when she awoke, and now that she remembered more clearly, it had been missing when she got up.

Chris didn't even try to explain, quickly unholstering his hunting handgun, and pointing it at Kelly. Kelly was shocked, but rage was far more prominent in her mind.

"Look, Kelly, it's nothing personal...it's just, you took a long time to wake up, and me and Chris talked for a while-" Began Topher.

"The hell are you saying?" Asked Kelly, but she knew what was happening. She began to back away.

"I gave you a chance last night, and you chose sides." Said Chris bluntly, "You chose wrong. We're leaving."

Kelly didn't speak, her eyes focused on Chris' gun. He and Topher grabbed their bags, and began to move for the door, Chris keeping his gun trained on her the entire time.

"No, you can't take our stuff!" Exclaimed Kelly, "At least leave some food!"

Chris ignored her, and turned his back from her to open the door.

A furious Kelly lunged, knocking Topher to the ground with adrenaline-fueled rage, and grabbing Chris by the arm. He spun around, hitting her in the face with the gun. Kelly didn't give up, grabbing Chris' gun and hitting him in the face at the same time. His grip loosened, allowing her to take his gun. She backed away, keeping the gun pointed at him.

Topher, now back on his feet, stood next to Chris, nervously holding his bag.

"Drop the bags." Ordered a bloody-nosed Kelly, turning to Topher, who immediately threw both bags of supplies to her feet.

"Run." She ordered bluntly.

Topher immediately bolted out the door, leaving a stubborn Chris standing in the living room.

"Kelly, you don't have to do this!" Pleaded Chris, "We can-"

"Leave, _Now_."

Without speaking, Chris stalked out the door, and ran off.

* * *

THREE MONTHS LATER.

Kelly was sharpening her machete inside the large brown cabin next to Toby, Riley, and Zella, when Riley decided to check on Dick with his walkie talkie.

"Dick? Are you there?" Asked Riley through the walkie-talkie, "Helloooo?"

Riley motioned for Kelly and Toby to stop making noise with his hand, Toby responding by raising his middle finger.

"Uh, yeah, I'm here," Replied Dick's voice, "I met a woman in the town, asked her if she wanted to join the group."

"Wait, what?"

"A woman. Her name's Alice."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, sorry it took so long for me to post this, I'm going to make up for it by posting the next chapter very soon, possibly even before the end of the day.

Chapter 9, "The Calm Before" Preview/Synopsis: As new opportunities arise for the group, Alice and the others question whether taking a massive risk to find more survivors is worth it.


	9. The Calm Before

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, you may have noticed that I posted two chapters in one day. I did this to make up for the embarrassingly long time it took for me to post this, so enjoy! This chapter is somewhat of a filler, setting things up for some big plot twists and other fun stuff. Next chapter is somewhat of a "season finale" for Volume 1 of Survivor(I consider chapters 1-10 to be volume 1, chapters 11-20 are volume 2, ect.), and a lot of big things are gonna happen. I'm going to try and make this next chapter longer than usual, so it may take a little while to complete, but it'll be worth the wait.

* * *

CURRENT DAY.

Alice walked into the brown cabin for breakfast, and found Dick, Kelly, Leo, Abby, Lily, Lana, Adam, Dinah, Morales, and a bandaged Riley waiting for her.

"Hey, Alice." Greeted Lily, waving to Alice as she entered the cabin. Lily was a slightly short, african-american woman with her hair styled into a loose ponytail, occasionally braided. Her chocolate brown eyes showed care and compassion, and she was often times outgoing. It had been six weeks since Lily and the others had first arrived at the cabins, and Alice had finally begun to trust them.

[I first met Lily and her group the day after we killed Mac. Dick was on his way to drop Lana off at the base of the mountain, and according to him, Lily's boyfriend Jay was hurt pretty bad. If I remember what Lily said correctly, he had been bit on the arm by a mutant about thirty minutes before Dick got there, and she had to amputate his arm. Dick brought him to the cabins, and did his best to save him. Dick didn't have time to drop Lana off, so Lana decided to stay with us, at least until the situation with Lily was resolved. Since Dick was the only one at the cabins with any sort of medical expertise, it was hard for him to help Riley and Jay at the same time, both of which would die without his help. In the end, Jay bled out. Lily was pressed messed up after that, but she managed to get through it. Frankly, I'm impressed with how strong she is. We've now got eleven people in the group, including me, and so far we're doing okay. To be honest, if Jay wasn't injured, I doubt we would've taken Lily and her group in. I'm glad we did.]

"Hey." Replied Alice, looking at Riley's bandages. He had healed quite a bit, but still had a hard time moving without pain. He tried his best(even to the border of hilarity) to remain independent, but it was no use.

Alice snuck a glance at Adam, turning away and sitting down as soon as he noticed.

[I admit I had somewhat of a crush on Adam. Then again, who wouldn't? Hell, half the girls before the outbreak would've paid _just to touch his jacket_. I liked Riley too, but he needed a _friend_, not a girlfriend. I did my best to get close to Adam, but he was always relatively distant. To this day I'm not sure he noticed back then.]

Adam's shoulders broadened as he stretched in his chair. He was about an inch shorter than Dick, with short messy blonde hair, and a bright smile which widened his thin long handsome face to match his blue eyes. He often wore his favorite light brown jacket, and blue jeans. He washed his clothes every two days or so, and often wore the same outfit for weeks at a time.

Alice took one spoonful of the food, and grimaced. Lana grinned.

[Recently we had started to rely on our garden for most of our food, which often ended up being soup or some other abomination made of vegetables.]

"So, I was thinking..." Said Morales, "Some of the houses down the road have gardening pits, if we could restore some of them to good condition, we could plant a lot more food, maybe even enough to permanently stop going on supply runs."

[Morales was always somewhat of a mystery to me. I could tell he was a good person, but he was timid to say the least. Occasionally I'd hear him crying by the side of trail while walking by, and the only person he seemed to be comfortable around was Dinah. His past was unknown to pretty much everyone, especially me. Hell, I didn't even find out his first name(Oscar) until about a week after I met him.]

"Sounds like a plan." Agreed Lana.

[After Lily and the others arrived, I expected Lana to leave like she said she would(not that I wanted her to), but she never did. And other than Kelly, no one seemed to have a problem with her anymore.]

"We can get started after breakfast, we should at least get _one_ of the pits in planting condition." Suggested Morales, "There's one in the backyard of a house just outside the parking lot, we should start there."

The others nodded, and continued eating.

* * *

Only about an hour later, Alice, Morales, Adam, and Dinah were busy plucking weeds out of a rundown garden in the backyard of a large two-story brown house a short walk down the mountain road.

[When Morales and Adam asked if anyone wanted to help them with the garden, I jumped at the opportunity. I was bored, and the fact that Adam would be there certainly didn't hurt.]

Morales was a hispanic long black-haired man, with brown eyes and a thick face.

Alice was relatively near to Dinah, when she finally started conversation.

"So...this whole 'Safe Haven' thing-" She asked, "You think it's true?"

"Don't see why she'd be lying, I'd say the place exists, or at least it _did_. _You're_ the one in her group, shouldn't _you_ be the one telling _me_?"

[When her and her group first arrived at the cabins, Lily said she'd heard of some sort of community of survivors in Colorado called "Safe Haven". She said she'd heard about it at the start of the outbreak, some sort of military-run refuge for survivors. A lot of people, including me, decided it was too big a risk to go on a wild goose chase searching for Safe Haven, so we all decided to stay at the cabins instead of risking a journey to Colorado. After all, we didn't have the slightest clue as to how to _find_ this place, if it still existed. Still, the idea of a safe community with other survivors was tempting to say the least.]

"Guess so, but do you think it's a good idea to stay at the cabins?"

"Instead of what, exactly?"

"You know, leaving. Finding somewere _safe_."

"I haven't seen any mutants around lately," Replied Alice, putting extra effort into one particularly stubborn weed, "That's safe enough for me."

"Fair enough." Shrugged Dinah, brushing a strand of her curled dark brown hair out of her face.

[Dinah always seemed to be closer to Morales than the others, I always figured they had probably known each other the longest.]

Finally pulling out a large weed which took all her strength, Alice fell backwards, knocking into Adam, who she hadn't realized was so close behind.

"Oh," Apologized an abnormally embarrassed Alice, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine," Replied Adam, having barely noticed.

* * *

After a long day of work, Alice took a walk by the creek, hopping from rock to rock, eventually taking a rest on one large rock in particular. After over a year of being at the cabins, there wasn't much left to see or do. She was bored, an odd feeling for someone who often in the past was constantly fighting for her life.

Looking to the base of a nearby tree, she admired a squirrel, who was twitching it's fluffy tail and chattering as it searched the ground for food. Even after seeing so many squirrels in the past, she still found them adorable, one of the few things still left untouched by the apocalypse.

The squirrel was rather chubby, occasionally looking cautiously at Alice. It darted up the tree, having stuffed something it found on the ground into it's cheek. Taking one final pause, the squirrel vanished into the needles and branches of the pine tree.

"ALICE? ALICE?" Alice heard Lily call from across the trail near her cabin.

"Coming!" Yelled Alice, quickly jumping down from the rock and making her way to Lily.

Alice ran up to Lily, greeting her with a casual, "Yeah, what's up?".

"Could you help me get the bonfire going?" Asked Lily, "I'm having a hard time finding dry wood, plus, I wanted to talk to you."

[Riley and Dick started somewhat of a tradition of lighting a bonfire at the end of each day in the parking lot, where me and the others would talk for a while before going to sleep. It had rained the day before, so it made since that Lily would need help lighting the fire, but it was obvious that she had other reasons for asking me in specific.]

"Yeah sure, let me get my backpack. I have some stuff in there that might help."

Grabbing her backpack, Alice followed Lily to the parking lot, to a firepit which they'd taken from a campground nearby. She surveyed the wood, seeing almost no tinder, and slightly damp logs.

"Well, for one, we're gonna need something small to get the fire started," Said Alice, "Some shavings of wood ought to work."

After quite a bit of stick-cutting, she and Lily had placed the logs in a large bed of fluffy wood shavings. Taking a bottle of rubbing alchohol out of her backpack, she sprinkled alchohol over the wood.

"What're you doing?" Asked a confused Lily.

"Putting alchohol on the wood," Explained Alice, "It makes great fuel, and it's easy to find."

"Smart."

"Watch _this_."

Alice equipped a lighter, along with a bottle of hairspray in the other hand.

"I don't think now's the time to spray your hair." Commented Lily.

"_Keep watching_."

Igniting the lighter, Alice sprayed the hairspray into the flame. The spray ignited, turning the hairspray into somewhat of a homemade flamethrower. Using the homemade flamethrower, she quickly ignited the wood in a small explosion of flames, making Lily jump backwards to avoid the flying sparks.

"Whoa," Said Lily, staring at the large newly-ignited fire in front of her.

"Used to use that hairspray trick to roast bugs," Said Alice with a smile, "Guess it has other uses."

"Guess so," Lily moved closer to the fire, sitting down next to Alice. The sun was going down, casting a misty ambience of orange light over the mountainside. Although Alice had seen quite a few mountain sunsets during her time at the cabins, their beauty never ceased to captivate her.

"There was something else you wanted to tell me," Noted Alice, "Right?"

"Yeah, um, I guess. It's nothing." Lily hesitated.

"You sure?" Alice could tell something was wrong. "C'mon, you can tell me."

Lily sighed. "Look, you can't tell _anyone_ what I say next. Promise me you won't tell _anyone_, no matter what."

"Promise."

"I have to leave the cabins." Blurted Lily after a subtle hesitation.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't stay here, not with what's happening."

"Lily, you can't be vague. I need to know what's going on."

Yet again, Lily hesitated.

"Before Jay died...It's-...I'm pregnant." Caved Lily, her voice starting to quiver.

"What?"

"I'm pregnant. Jay didn't know. No one did."

Alice paused. "Why are you telling _me_?"

"Because the others can't know. Not yet. I figured you could keep a secret."

"But- What does this have to do with staying at the cabins?"

"I'm not going to have my baby here. I just can't. I need to be somewhere safe, somewhere with people."

"Lily, we _are_ safe here. We can't just run off hoping to find some utopia in Colorado!"

"Safe Haven is our best chance at survival. If you and the others don't want to find it, I will. Alone."

"We don't even have a clue where this place is. It's not worth the risk, both you and the others know I'm right."

"Maybe," Admitted Lily, standing up, "But either way, I'm not staying here. It's too isolated. I'm not going to live the rest of my life hiding in the mountains."

Lily walked away, and went to get the others to the bonfire.

* * *

That night, Alice was relatively silent during the group bonfire, thinking over the things Lily had said. Abby was chatting away about her experiences as a cop before the outbreak while playing with her goofy orange hair, Riley occasionally making a joke here and there. Riley was still much more solemn and reserved than before Zella died, but he had certainly improved, the newcomer's arrival causing him to interact more often.

Morales was silent as usual, Dinah doing the same. Those two seemed to have a bond, one she didn't quite understand.

Leo spend his time toying with his machete, slightly ignoring the others. He was solitary in many ways, but spoke up when necessary. He was always honest about his opnion, straight to the point, and sometimes a little narcissistic, to the annoyance of many people in the group. However, everyone seemed to respect him. Leo had a light tough build, probably as old(if not older) than Dick, with brown hair and olive green eyes which were darkened by the night.

Kelly didn't bother attending the bonfire, and was most likely sleeping in her cabin, which she shared with Leo. Because of all the newcomers, everyone shared cabins with at least one person. Dick, Riley, and Alice all stayed in the same cabin.

Adam occasionally joined in the conversation, but mostly listened. He was a friendly person, which made it hard for Alice to interact with him(and most of the others in his group). She wasn't used to people like him, people who were outgoing. It made her uncomfortable.

[Considering our circumstances, my group was pretty happy. Me, Leo, Morales, and Kelly were somwhat of the outsiders, and I was fine with that. I didn't depend on people much, and small talk didn't serve much of a purpose to me.]

* * *

The group went to sleep rather late that night, the conversation lingering for quite a while before ending. The group had a habit of staying up late into the night, and Alice enjoyed that. She had always been a "night owl" before the outbreak, and she enjoyed the serenity of the mountains at night.

Dick opened the door for her and Riley, leading them into their cabin.

"'Night." Said Alice, snuggling into her sleeping bag on the floor next to Dick. Riley took his place on the bed in the room. When Alice had first arrived at the cabins, she decided to let Dick sleep on the bed, while she slept on the floor in her sleeping bag, even though he offered otherwise. She was liked sleeping on the floor anyways.

"Um, yeah," Said Dick, "There's something I need to tell you guys."

"What?" Asked Riley, yawning.

"I checked the shed today," Explained Dick, "Some of our food and extra ammo is missing."

"Are you sure?" Asked Alice.

"I think so," Replied Dick, "There's enough missing to be suspicious. In fact, _more_."

"Why would someone take it?" Asked Riley after a minute of thinking.

"They could be planning to leave with it," Reasoned Dick, "Maybe leave on their own with the supplies, like Toby did."

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions," Said Alice, "For all we know it's nothing."

"Either way, keep your eyes open," Replied Dick, "Someone's stealing food, and I'm gonna find out who it is."

"You just noticed today?" Asked Riley.

"Yeah," Confirmed Dick, "But it's been at least a week since I last took inventory. My guess is, it's one of the newcomers, maybe _all_ of them for all we know."

"We'll worry about that tomorrow," Said Alice, "For now, let's get some sleep."

* * *

**Author's Note**: Hey guys, I know some of you have been waiting for your OC's to be introduced, and today they finally were. I apologize that most of them didn't get much attention this chapter, I'm setting things up for some _huge_ events in the future, and the storyline's going to be very dynamic in the next few chapters, which will give me opportunities for more character development. If you'd like to create your own OC, follow the steps given in the author's note of Chapter 6, although it will be at least a few chapters till I have the opportunity to introduce them.

Chapter 10, "Nightmare" Preview/Synopsis: As the group is attacked by threats from within and outside, they question whether stayng at the cabins in the safest option. A traitor in the group is revealed.

Reader-made OC credits:

Adam - Created by Cowardlygurp

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

p.s. In case you're wondering, the "Morales" in this chapter is the same Morales in the TV series, which is my way of cementing the two series in the same universe. Since Morales' fate(or that of his family's) was never explained in the TV series, that leaves him open for creativity.


	10. Nightmare

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, a few things to tell you:

1) I took extra time to make this chapter longer than most others, and I put extra work into it. There were a few small writer's blocks, but here it is. Sorry if I took too long to publish it, I've been doing lots of other things lately. With 4830 words(the most words in any of my chapters), I present Chapter 10 of Survivor(I consider this chapter to be somewhat of a "season finale" for me, given that this is the final chapter of Volume One of Survivor{I consider chapters 1-10 to be volume 1, 11-20 to be volume 2, ect.}).

2) If you want to create your own OC to be introduced into Survivor, follow the instructions given in Chapter 6's author's note. It may take some time for me to introduce them, but there's never a better time than now, when the storyline is getting more and more dynamic.

3) I'm _more_ than open to suggestions! Although I have a relatively solid outline for the main storyline for at least until chapter 20, I would _love_ it if you could give me your ideas for what you'd like to see in future chapters! It really helps destroy writer's block, and helps me make the chapters longer and more interesting.

4) In case you haven't noticed, I've revised a couple of the earlier chapters(1, 2 &amp; 5 in specific), feel free to re-read them if you like.

* * *

Alice couldn't move. She was alone inside the orphanage, with shadows flying across the walls. The living room was dark and unnaturally red. Looking down, she saw the bodies of people she knew at her feet. Clark. Zella. Chandler. Miss Aileen. As she continued looking, she saw others. Riley. Dick. Kelly. Lana. Lily. The others. She was panicked, but couldn't control herself.

Suddenly, Zella's hand reached out and grabbed her leg. Zella's head turned directly to her, revealing a ravaged face with a hole in her neck. Alice wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Her mouth was wide open, but she couldn't make noise. She was frozen in place, terror gripping her.

* * *

[I've always hated nightmares. In real life, you can fight. You can run. You can scream. But in a nightmare, you don't have control. The world does, and that's why it's frightening. The truth is, sometimes the world is worse than a nightmare. You think you have control, then everything falls apart in the blink of an eye.]

Alice awoke, breathing heavily. It took her a few moments to calm down, and settle back into reality. It wasn't often that she had nightmares nowadays, but it happened occasionally. She wiped her sweaty forehead, and sat up. Dick and Riley were still asleep, and she could tell it was early in the morning. She didn't feel like going back to sleep, so she got dressed, and laid sleepless on her sleeping bag.

Eventually, Riley's groggy shifting alerted her. He was awake. He noticed she was awake, and slightly waved at her.

"'Morning." He greeted, rubbing his eyes.

"Mhm."

"The others up yet?"

"Not sure, I woke up early. Dick's asleep."

"Want to take a hike with me?"

"Sounds good. Let's get up."

Riley and Alice got ready, and walked outside to talk a walk up the trail. The air was brisk and fresh as it usually was in the mornings, and his eyes were still slightly squinting as they trekked up the path casually.

"You really think someone's stealing food?" Asked Alice, starting conversation.

"Maybe," Answered Riley, "Anything's possible."

"But who, exactly?"

"Not sure, it could be one of the newcomers, maybe even Lana. Or Kelly."

"Maybe we can search everyone's bags."

"Whoever's taking food, _if they're smart_, they didn't put it in their bag. My guess is they have a stash somewhere that they're saving for later."

"_If_ someone's stealing, we'll find them. I say for now we ask around, and be subtle. We shouldn't freak out about this, it could be nothing, although it isn't worth the risk to ignore."

Riley stopped walking, and turned to face her.

"Alice," He said, "I'm not risking what happened with Chandler. Or with Mac. I don't trust _anyone_, not anymore. I'm not taking any chances."

[I could tell that what happened with Zella messed with Riley. He didn't trust anyone anymore, and he wasn't shy about it. I'm not so sure he was wrong. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that trust can be overrated.]

"Me either, I'm just saying we need to be _careful_. No need to turn on each other, not after all we've survived."

"Good point."

* * *

It wasn't a very long hike, but the others had already awoken by the time Riley and Alice got back to the cabins. They were met by Adam when they reached their cabin.

"Hey," He greeted, "Dick and the others are waiting for us back at the main cabin for breakfast."

Adam led them to the brown cabin near the entrance of the trail, and held the door open for them. The others were waiting inside, most of them already eating. Ramen noddles had become somewhat of a breakfast tradition for the survivors, and today was no exception.

"Next time you guys decide to take a _early morning trip to China_, let us know first." Remarked Abby sassily.

[Abby was one of the lippiest people I've ever met. She was nice, but certainly didn't mind being serious when it was needed. And if _any_ girl could kick some ass, it was her. She was likeable, to say the least. She was a little distant and cold when she first arrived, but she changed pretty quick after that.]

Riley gave Abby a playful unamused look, and sat down at the table. A few people sat on the floor and the couch, given that there wasn't much room on the table with all the survivors. Alice decided to sit down on a chair next to the couch where Morales. Lily seemed uninterested, not interacting as much as usual.

"Anyone down for a supply run after breakfast?" Asked Dinah, "I'd like to eat something _besides_ pasta or vegetables for once."

"Sounds good to me," Said Kelly without hesitation.

"I'm in," Agreed Alice, "I could use some excitement."

Alice turned to Dick.

"Don't look at _me_," He declined, "_I'm_ gonna read a damn book."

"I'll come." Said Abby, casually raising her hand.

"Guess it's me and you three then." Settled Dinah, looking to Alice, Abby, and Kelly.

"I just fueled the car up the last time we went down," Said Dick, "It should be ready to go."

* * *

Kelly had taken an annoyingly long time to pack for the run, and it was about midday when the four women left. Alice was rather uncomfortable during the ride down from the mountain, given the fact that Dinah wasn't all that good of a driver. The mountain road was thin and twisting, which made for quite a few overly thrilling turns.

"Hey _fast and furious_," Remarked Abby, "Think you could slow down a little?"

"C'mon Abby," Replied Dinah, "I'm having _fun_."

"Well you better have some damn good _car insurance_ if you keep driving like this." Retorted Abby, making Alice laugh. Kelly stared out the window, slightly more distracted and distant than usual.

"You gonna give me a speeding ticket, 'Officer Abby'?"

The conversation and banter between Abby and Dinah continued the same for the rest of the way down the mountain, ending when the four women finally reached their destination; a mobile home park about five miles from the bottom of the mountain, residing in the neighboring city, being one of the few neighborhoods Alice's group hadn't searched yet.

Alice shielded her eyes from the brights sun as she exited the car, shutting the door behind her. It was surprisingly warm outside, considering the fact that it was the beginning of fall. The leaves on the surrounding trees had already begun to turn red and orange, covering the ground with their colors.

Before they all finished exiting the car, a mutant began to stumble towards her and Abby.

"I got this." Said Abby, removing her sword from it's sheath. It was a relatively long blade with a slightly rusted edge and markings engraved into it's side, and she had no problem cutting down the mutant.

[Abby carried her sword with her just about everywhere she went, I must admit, she kind of intimidated me at first.]

"Nice sword." Remarked Kelly, surprisingly impressed.

"Thanks."

"Let's split up to cover more ground," Suggested Abby, having a habit of taking charge(although she was certainly good at it), "I'll go with Kelly, you two go together."

* * *

Abby and Kelly went off to go search together, while Alice and Dinah went together to the front door of a small mobile home.

Ramming through the rusted door easily, Dinah held open the door for Alice.

"After you." She said, Alice stepping in ahead of her.

The small rectangular house was messy and unkept, with furniture and dirty clothes across the floor. A body lay limp in the middle of the living room, with a gunshot wound through it's head.

"Hey, Alice," Said Dinah from the kitchen, "I just wanted to apologize for Morales, he's been pretty distant and all since we arrived, and-"

"It's not a big deal, but thanks anyways. Also, why are _you_ the one apologizing?"

"Well, it's just, he's not exactly the type to talk. To anyone."

"Honestly, I don't think anyone's really cared, none of us are all that social, I'm no exception."

"What I'm saying is," Explained Dinah, walking into the same room as Alice, "Don't try and make him interact with you. He can be-, well, _hostile_ when he's around this many people. He's not used to it."

[I never really understood Morales, and I never really wanted to. I was fine with leaving him alone, after all, I didn't enjoy small talk either. I certainly wasn't _always_ that way, I'm sure he wasn't either. Before the outbreak I used to _never_ shut up, it didn't matter who I was with, or where I was. I was a social butterfly, though I didn't have all that many opportunities to show it. The only person I ever really socialized with during my childhood were the other orphans, and my best friend Clark. He first arrived at the orphanage when I was somewhere around five years old, me and him were friends until I was adopted, not long before everything went to hell. It wasn't very often that I had a day where I _didn't_ wonder what happened to him, I liked to think that he was somewhere out there, surviving.]

"So," Replied Alice, "What's his deal?"

"All I know is, he had a family before all this, they were with him after the outbreak. Says he met someone who took him in, some sort of survivor's camp. All I know is, it didn't work out, and his family obviously isn't here anymore."

Alice nodded in acknowledgement, and continued searching.

* * *

It was over two hours before she and Dinah finished searching, taking a rest on the hood of their car.

"God," Said Dinah, "I'm hungry."

"Kelly probably brought some bars in her pack," Offered Alice, "Her pack's in the front seat, I can get it for you."

"Yeah, let's do that."

Opening the already unlocked passenger car door, she quickly found what she was looking for; Kelly's tan hiking pack. She opened the small front pocket, finding nothing inside. Opening the main middle pocket, she nearly gasped.

"Holy shit." Muttered Alice.

Inside Kelly's pack were all kinds of supplies, from ammunition to food. The missing supplies Dick had been looking for. They were organized and prepared, most of them midden in the bottom of the pocket.

"Somethin' wrong?" Asked Dinah.

"We need to find Kelly, _now_."

* * *

"You're sure it's Kelly?" Asked Riley through the walkie-talkie, minutes later.

"I'm sure," Replied Alice, "I'm going to try and warn Abby, Kelly might be planning to make a move, maybe try and bolt off with the supplies."

"Be careful, we've _both_ seen what Kelly can do."

"I know exactly what, and _who_, I'm up against. I've got Dinah with me, we'll be fine."

"What're you planning to do, exactly?"

"Confront Kelly, get her to leave peacefully. _If not, I'll do what I have to_. I'm not letting another Chandler incident happen again."

"Should I tell the others?" Asked Riley's voice over the static, "They're starting to ask questions."

"No, we'll tell them once it's over."

"Dick's on his way, he'll be there soon. _You should wait for him before you do anything._"

"No, it's too risky."

"Fine. Good luck."

"I'll see you later."

Alice turned off the walkie-talkie, turning to Dinah.

"Let's find Kelly and Abby, _don't tell Kelly anything,_ we need to catch her off-guard. Let's make this quiet."

* * *

After a few minutes of searching, Alice and Dinah came upon the neighborhood which Kelly and Abby were searching.

"ABBY?" Called out Alice. No response.

"KELLY?" No response.

Looking around she saw a house with it's door ajar. She motioned for Dinah to follow her, taking the lead into the house.

"Oh God." Said Dinah covering her own mouth.

Abby lay on her stomach, limp on the floor. Looking closer, Alice could see a small wound on the back of her head. Her sword was tossed to the side, her gun unholstered and missing.

Dinah felt Abby's neck, looking for a pulse.

"She's unconscious," Noted Dinah, "My guess is someone hit her with a gun. A _heavy_ gun."

"So she's-"

"Alive? Yeah."

"Let's keep looking. Kelly's out here, she's probably gone back to the car to find her backpack."

"I'm going to _put that bitch down_."

"Only if we _have_ to."

Alice heard the noise behind her, but it was too late.

"Drop your guns." Kelly hissed from behind.

* * *

ONE MONTH BEFORE THE OUTBREAK.

"C'mon. _C'mon_." Muttered Alice, clicking the computer mouse.

It had been a while since she'd been adopted, and she hadn't spoken to Clark since. The only form of communication he had was email, and she'd been anticipating a message from him for what seemed to be ages.

Suddenly, she found what she was looking for; a new email from him. She nearly shouted in excitement, and opened the message.

"Hey, Alice. Sorry I haven't been able to talk lately, Mrs. Aileen's been pretty strict this week. I've got some pretty big news. I'm being adopted. I haven't met _who_, but it's almost certain. I may be able to talk more often when that happens. Who knows, maybe we'll meet up again sometime. If you can, try and meet me at St. Claire's park at midnight on Friday. I'll be waiting. Send confirmation." Alice read quietly to herself. She was overjoyed with the thought of seeing Clark again.

"Whatcha doin'?" Asked a voice from behind. Mr Forbes. Alice quickly turned around.

"OH, um, just checking my email, Mr. Forbes."

"Okay, have fun!"

Before leaving, Mr Forbes turned around again to speak.

"You know-...you don't have to call me 'Mr. Forbes'. You can call me dad."

Alice nodded. Mr Forbes left, making her breathe a sigh of relief.

* * *

PRESENT DAY.

Alice froze. She could tell by Kelly's voice that she was too far away to fight hand-to-hand. Setting their guns down, Alice and Dinah turned to face her. Kelly's expression was cold, as she kept her hunting rifle trained directly at Alice's chest.

"Outside," Ordered Kelly, "_Now_."

Kelly cautiously moved backwards, leading Alice and Dinah out the door. Through the corner of her eye, Alice saw movement from Abby.

"I never meant for this to happen," Said Kelly, "Things could've been easy. I could've simply taken my backpack and left, but things got complicated."

"How the hell could you just steal from us?!" Exclaimed an enraged Dinah.

"We don't live in a world of second chances, you know that. I'm doing what I have to to survive. Nowadays you evolve or you die."

Alice could now see that Abby was no longer unconscious, listening from inside the house to their conversation. Abby quietly snuck through the back door, into the backyard of the house.

"Just leave," Said Dinah, "We won't stop you."

"Not without my backpack. Throw it to me."

Alice reluctantly obeyed, the backpack landing at Kelly's feet. Abby had now exited through the front backyard gate of the house, emerging behind Kelly, slowly inching towards her.

"Wait!" Exclaimed Alice as a distraction, just as Kelly prepared to turn around, "Can't you at least leave _something_? You don't need _everything_ in that backpack. _We do_."

"No," Declined Kelly bluntly, "It's mine now. You'll be fine without it."

Kelly began to turn around again, just as Abby was almost within touching distance of her, ready to pounce.

"Stop!" Yelled a quick-thinking Dinah, "You can't just steal from us!"

"Watch me."

Dinah grinned. Kelly understood, but it was too late. Abby jumped on her, grabbing her rifle. She jerked and twisted wildly, firing the gun several times in a chaotic flurry of bullets. She briefly managed to break free, and was ready to fire a bullet directly into Abby's chest. However, Abby was too quick, bringing her sword down directly on her firing arm, severing it. Kelly's haunting scream of pain ripped through the air, as her arm fell to the ground, stained in blood.

She began to hyperventilate, looking at her stump of an arm in horror. Without a word, Kelly darted off into the distance.

"Don't follow her." Said Abby, stopping Alice from pursuing, "We got what we want, and every ripper within a mile heard those gunshots. We're gonna get swarmed if we don't get out of here, _fast_."

Alice and Dinah nodded, retrieving their weapons.

"Let's hope Dick gets here soon, or that we can get back to the car."

Mutants had already begun to pour into the street, forcing the three women to run farther from their car, deeper into the neighborhood. A mutant crossed their path, but was quickly put down with a sideward slash of Abby's sword.

"This way, follow me!" Alice climbed swiftly onto a neighborhood wall, the other two following in her footsteps. Balancing on the wall, she ran across to the backyard of the house behind, exiting onto the street.

"The car should be around this corner!"

However, the three women rounded the corner to find their car missing. A trail of blood led to the spot where the car was parked. Kelly.

"Shit!" Exclaimed Dinah, as more and more mutants closed in, "Kelly took the car!"

Dinah put a bullet in the nearest mutant's head, the gunshot peircing Alice's ears. Charging with her baseball bat, Alice managed to put down two others. Abby did the same, doing her best to keep the rapidly apporaching mutants away.

"Over there!" Yelled Alice over the gunshots and commotion, pointing to a nearby garage, whose door was slightly ajar. She looked to the side, to see a mutant tearing into Dinah's shoulder. Abby quickly dispatched the mutant, but it was too late.

"Go." Ordered Dinah. Alice tried to object, but Abby grabbed her by the shirt, and pulled her into the garage. As Abby pulled the garage door closed, she could see Dinah salute her and Abby, then put a gun to her head.

A final gunshot echoed, the sight blocked by the garage door. Alice heard Dinah fall to the floor, the sound of feasting mutants overwhelming her.

[It all happened so fast. One moment Dinah was fine, the next she was gone. After I heard the gunshot that ended Dinah's life, I had only one goal. No matter how long it took, I would find and kill Kelly. That is, if she was still alive.]

* * *

It wasn't until at least a half hour later that Alice and Abby heard the sound of a car driving onto the neighborhood street. Dick. Dick honked the horn frantically.

The two women quickly opened the garage door, seeing a horde of mutants swarming Dick's car. Dick drove forward, killing several. Seeing their chance, they sprinted to the car, yanking open the passenger door, and piling inside onto the same seat.

"GO! DRIVE!" Exclaimed Alice, slamming the door shut.

Dick slammed his foot onto the gas pedal, speeding away, back up the mountain. Alice took one last look backwards, seeing Dinah's ravaged body lying in the street.

"Where the hell is Dinah?" Asked Dick.

"...Dead."

* * *

AN HOUR LATER.

Alice, Abby, and Dick exited the car in the parking lot of the cabins, the other survivors crowding around them. The two women were covered in blood, avoiding the eyes of the people crowded around them.

"The hell happened back there?" Questioned Adam.

[I wasn't sure what to tell them. What _could_ I have told them?]

"Where's Dinah?" Asked Lily, with concern in her voice.

"...Gone." Answered Abby.

"Gone?" Pried Leo, "The hell does _that_ mean?"

Abby's eyes locked with Leo's, her face said it all. It wasn't until the others realized what had happened.

"You mean...Dinah's-" Began Lily.

Abby nodded, without a word. Morales walked away, clenching his fists.

[I always knew Morales was the closest to Dinah in the group, I knew he'd take it hard, and so would the others. After all the suspicion and mistrust we had towards the newcomers(which the were aware of), one of _us_ betrayed the group. Kelly may as well have killed Dinah herself, she was responsible, and everyone knew it. After everything that she'd been through with us, she _murdered_ Dinah.]

* * *

Alice sat alone, deep in thought, sitting on the edge of Riley's bed. It was too much for Abby or her to explain to the others what happened, so Dick did it for them. She thought she was _used_ to things like this, people dying. She was wrong.

[The truth is, no matter how many people you see die, you'll always feel it. Always. That's just how humans were made..._Made to suffer_.]

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Hey," Greeted Riley from outside, "Can I come in?"

"Yeah...of course."

He took a seat next to her, putting his hands on his knees.

"You okay?" He asked, turning towards her.

"Close enough." She forced a smile.

"I heard what happened...I can't believe Kelly just _snapped_ like that."

"She didn't snap. It was pure survival for her. She'd been planning this, I could tell. The supply run was just the opportunity she took."

"You think she's still alive?"

"...I hope so."

"Why?"

"Because," She replied, "_I want to kill that bitch myself_."

"Um, I just wanted to let you know...the others want to leave. Most of them, at least."

"What do you mean?"

"Lily's group wants to leave, go on some _wild goose chase_ to find 'Safe Haven'."

"...You think we should, too?"

[At that point, I wasn't sure about staying at the cabins anymore. The isolation was driving me insane. I was at a breaking point, and I knew it. I needed to be around other survivors, I needed to be somewhere _safe_. But not just that, I needed to be somewhere where I was _living_, not just surviving. _There's a difference between living and surviving._ I learned that a_ long _time ago_._]

"To be honest," Answered Riley, "I don't. We're _safe_ here, what happened with Kelly wasn't anyone's fault but hers."

Alice nodded.

"Either way; Lily, Abby, Adam, Leo, and Morales are packing up," He added, "Dick says he wants to stay."

"Look," Said Alice, "I can't stay here with only two other people. It's not enough just to be _safe_. Not anymore. We need people. Things around here are beginning to feel like they did with Iris, and I'm not going through that again."

"What are you saying?"

"...I'm leaving the cabins."

Riley paused.

"You serious?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

"_Then I am, too_."

"You think Dick'll go along with it?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go talk to the others."

Riley stood up, and led her out of the cabin.

After only seconds of walking, Alice spotted Abby, washing her clothes alone by the creek.

"Go on ahead," Said Alice, "Tell Dick and the others what I told you, I'm gonna talk to Abby for a second."

Riley nodded, and continued walking as she approached Abby.

* * *

"Hey," She greeted, "How're you holding up?"

"I'm alright," Answered Abby, pushing a loose strand of hair from her face, "Thanks."

"You on board with leaving the cabins?"

"Yeah. _We all are_. Are _you_?"

"I guess."

"I know you, Dick, and Riley don't have a reason to leave," Said Abby, "But _everyone_ in my group has a reason."

"What's yours?"

Abby paused, taken off-guard by the question.

"...My boyfriend-...he went missing a while after the outbreak, he's out there somewhere. I can't stand _just sitting here_, hoping he's still alive. If he's out there, I'm gonna find him. After all, he's the reason I'm here in the first place. Hell, for all I know, _he's at Safe Haven_."

"What if he's not? _What if Safe Haven doesn't even exist_?"

"Then I keep looking."

"...I'll talk to you later," Said Alice, "I've gotta go talk to Dick."

Abby nodded, cleaning blood off her sword with her shirt.

"One more thing," Added Alice, "I know this is kind of 'out of the blue', but...where the hell did you get that sword from?"

Abby smiled, "It's a long story. Me, my boyfriend, and a few others had set up camp in a museum, a couple rippers broke in- I grabbed the first weapon I could find. Turns out artifacts are more useful than I thought. That's the short version."

"Well," Exited Alice, "Nice talking to you."

"You too."

She walked away, quickening her pace to go find Dick. The dusty ground stirred beneath her feet, as she jogged down the trail. It didn't take long, finding him talking to Riley by the brown cabin's shed.

"Hey," He greeted, "Alice."

"Hey."

"You're sure you want to leave?"

"Yeah. Are you coming?"

"Only if you and Riley are."

"We are."

"We've been here almost since the beginning,_ I can't believe we're actually leaving_."

"Maybe it's for the best."

"Maybe."

* * *

ONE DAY LATER.

Alice rested her head on her hand, staring out the window of the car. She was deep in thought, staring at the passing landscape. The sun had just barely risen, enshrouding the peaks of the mountain in light. Lily, Dick, Riley, and Abby- the others in the car, were similarly quiet.

[After leaving the cabins, none of us knew what was coming next. We were all tired. Tired of running. Tired of losing people. Tired of fighting. And so, we jumped into the unknown.]

She looked to her left, her eyes fixating on a nearby sign.

"Now leaving Mt. Hall, come back soon!" She read silently, as the cabins- and the memories made there- faded into the distance.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well guys, thanks for reading! I put extra work into this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 11, "Until The End" Preview/Synopsis: Now on the road, Alice's group struggles to deal with new threats.

Reader-Made OC credits:

Adam - Created by Cowardlygurp

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen

p.s. I'd really love it if you could review this chapter, this chapter is certainly one I'd like some feedback on.


	11. Until The End

TWO MONTHS LATER.

Alice gripped her baseball bat tightly, treading lightly on the wood floor, floorboards creaking beneath her thick hiking boots. She could hear the raspy deep moaning of the mutant just up the stairs, and was careful to make little noise, as she ascended up the steps leading to the second floor of the house. Finally reaching the top of the staircase, she listened closely, hearing the mutant approach her from the neighboring bedroom.

She backed away, luring the mutant to the top of the stairs. It flayed it's arms wildly, reaching out at her chaotically. Lunging forward, she grabbed the mutant by the arm, and flung it down the stairs. It fell hard, making a snapping noise as it landed at the bottom, bending it's neck into an awkward position. It continued to moan, unable to move. She trotted down the stairs, and brought her bat down on it's skull, finishing it off quickly.

It didn't take long for her to finish searching the house, and she quickly rummaged through the bedrooms and garage. However, she mostly managed to find medications in the bathroom, which she stuffed into her backpack, along with the food and supplies she found. She also bagged one other item; a survival guide which she found in the master bedroom, figuring it could be useful.

She made a quick exit through the sliding glass back door, and went to reunite with the others. She'd spent more time than usual searching, and she presumed they were waiting for her back at the large store they'd set up camp in. The sun was almost down, most of it obscured by the surrounding buildings. It was only a quick jog away to their camp, and she was panting as she arrived at the front door.

"Good," Said Adam, opening the door for her, "You're back. The others have been waiting."

He led her to where the others were waiting, next to a small bonfire contained in a circle of rocks.

"Well look who _finally_ decided to show up." Remarked Abby.

"You find anything useful?" Asked Dick.

"Sort of," She replied, setting her findings on the floor for the group to see.

"Well," Said Lana, "At least it's _something_."

Morales gave a grunt of agreement.

"Oh yeah, and one more thing." Said Alice, removing a rectangular box from her back pocket, "I found this."

She presented an unopened package of spaghetti, placing it down next to her backpack.

"Spaghetti night!" Proclaimed Abby, throwing her fist into the air.

"Let's get this cooking now," Suggested Riley, "We could all use some sleep."

"_Amen to that_." Agreed Lily, retrieving a pot from her own backpack to cook the pasta with.

[The others still hadn't found out about Lily's pregnancy, and it was a secret that became harder to keep every day. She was cranky, tired, and often times didn't interact with the others. Frankly, I'm surprised they didn't figure it out. Then again, we all had things to deal with that were _far_ more important. Food was scarce, now that all the food we'd taken from the garden back at the cabins had depleted, and our main source of food was food we found on supply runs. Sometimes we'd have one meal a day, occasionally two. Some people suggested going back to the cabins, but it was obvious that there was no going back. We were somewhere towards the border of Arizona, but none of us were sure exactly where we were. We'd been looking for a map for days, to no avail. The landscape was desert in many places, making it even harder to find supplies. Truth is, we had no idea what the hell we were doing.]

The group ate quickly, devouring the pasta with ferocity. They were hungry, and it had been quite a long time since they'd eaten anything remotely good-tasting. They were tired of eating granola bars and ramen noodles, and it felt good to have something fresh for once. In a matter of minutes, they were finished.

"Let's put the fire out before we go to sleep," Suggested Dick, "We don't want anyone knowing we're here. Plus, we don't want too much carbon monoxide in a place like this."

The group extinguished the fire, and set up their sleeping bags by the embers. Dick took first watch for the next two hours. Alice drifted away quickly, exhausted by the day's events.

* * *

"C'mon!" Exclaimed a joyful Clark, leading Alice by the hand through the mountain trail. It was bright outside, and the cabin roofs shimmered in the sunlight. Leaves fell around them, and she quickened her pace, trying to keep up with him.

Clark led her down to the creek, and jumped in. The creek was deeper than usual, and Clark's contagious laughter filled the air.

Suddenly, something grabbed her foot, and began to drag her into the depths of the creek. A mutant. The ravaged hand of the mutant continued to drag her down. Away from Clark. Away from the sunlight. She sunk deeper, until nothing but darkness remained. She was alone, somehow able to breathe in the shadowy waters.

"Alice," A voice called, distorted by the water, "Wake up."

* * *

"Alice, it's your turn to keep watch. Wake up."

Alice awoke from her dream to the sound of Dick's voice, and his gentle push on her arm.

"Wake up," He said, "Sleepyhead."

She rose up from her sleeping bag, and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey," She greeted, slipping into her jacket, "Dick."

"I'm going to bed now," Said Dick, "You gonna be alright on your own?"

"Yeah."

"'Night."

"'Night."

She rose up, taking her baseball bat and gun with her, then trotted over to the front door of the supermarket. She didn't mind being up this late, she had always been somewhat of a 'night owl', and it wasn't easy for her to get tired. She often had trouble sleeping anyways, so taking the night watch gave her time to clear her head.

It was pitch black outside, and the darkness was a little intimidating. She had been afraid of the dark for a large portion of her childhood, but as far as she was concerned, her childhood was over. She didn't have time for fears. It was somewhat cold outside, and she crossed her arms to keep warm, covering her hands with her soft jacket. She could see her breath in the air, as she sat down in a chair next to the door.

She could see some movement in the distance, mostly mutants and objects being blown by the wind, as far as she could tell. Out in the distance, for only a short moment, she saw one object that stood out from the others. It was moving quickly, and was out of sight before she could see it's form. She dismissed it, and continued keeping watch, albeit cautiously.

* * *

The next morning, Alice awoke late, after almost all the others.

"C'mon Alice," Said Lana, nudging her, "Get up. We've got to get moving."

She was groggy and comfortable, and wasn't in the mood to get up. However, she didn't have much of a choice. She got dressed as quickly as she could, and left the supermarket with the others, continuing their journey.

They walked at a steady pace on the gravel road, putting down any mutants that came too close. Lily was obviously exhausted, but did her best to hide it from the others, panting and grunting often. Alice felt bad for her, but knew there wasn't anything she could do. And so, she continued walking next to Leo.

"So," She said, tired of the awkward silence, "You on board with the whole 'Safe Haven' thing?"

"I guess," Replied Leo vaguely, "No reason not to be-...yet."

"You don't seem too attached to Lily and the others, you new to their group?"

"You could say that."

"...You don't talk much, do you?"

"Do _you_?"

"Good point."

[Out of all of Lily's group, I had the most respect for Leo. He wasn't exactly chatty, or extensively friendly, but me and him could relate, in a way that I couldn't with most of the others. Either way, he seemed like a decent person. He was a survivor, not to mention a damn good one. He certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, either.]

"Excuse me for a moment," Said Leo, removing his machete from it's sheath. A certain mutant had gotten close to the group, and he walked straight to it without hesitation. He brought the blade of the machete down hard, making quick work of the mutant, reducing it to a corpse quickly. He pulled his machete from the mutant's skull, and continued walking.

"Nice machete." Complimented Alice.

"Thanks."

"Hey guys," Called out Adam, "There's a car up ahead! We should search it if we can."

"Yeah." Agreed Dick.

The group reached the gray mini-van quickly, and Alice ran ahead of the group.

"I got this." She said, slamming her baseball bat onto the passenger window of the car. It made a loud noise, but the window barely cracked. Another hit extended the crack, but failed to break the window.

"Need a hand with that?" Asked Leo, extending his hand to take her baseball bat.

"Be my guest."

He took the bat in his hands firmly, and brought it down on the window. Hard. The window finally shattered, sending bits of glass flying onto the car seats. He reached through, and unlocked the door from the inside, holding it open for Alice.

"Nice." She said, climbing into the car, careful to avoid the broken glass.

"I'm no stranger to baseball."

She searched the trunk, finding a case of much-needed water bottles. Searching the glove compartment, she pulled out a large slab of paper.

"Yes!" She exclaimed, showing the paper to the others. It was a map of the region, something they didn't currently have.

"This'll come in handy," Noted Dick, taking the map from her and folding it into his pocket, "Nice job."

[In a way, Dick had become the leader of our group. He was certainly one of the smartest people there, and he was almost always analytical and intelligent. He often gave the orders, and we often followed. He never said he was leader, but he was definitely thought of as one by most of the people in the group. Although there was still some segregation between Lily's group and mine, everyone still looked up to Dick. I was no exception.]

"Let's keep moving." Said Leo, leading the way further down the road, gravel crunching beneath his feet as he walked.

* * *

It was a few hours until the group reached their destination; Baker Woods national park, and it's visitor center next to the road. The visitor center was on the edge of a relatively deep canyon, gray and rusted, with a small gift shop inside.

The group cautiously entered the visitor center, Alice leading the way. A lone mutant dressed in an employee outfit emerged from the gift shop, knocking over a rotating shelf as it stumbled towards the survivors. Lana took charge, stalking forward with her knife. She struck quickly, digging into the mutant's eye with the blade. The mutant fell to her feet, dripping blood onto the floor.

Lana motioned for Alice and the others to follow, and continued walking cautiously through the visitor center. It didn't take long to search, and the group failed to find any more mutants.

An exhausted Alice sat down on the marble floor, relaxing against the wall. Riley walked over, and took a seat next to her. The others were out of earshot, most of them out of sight.

"Hey, um," Said Riley, "I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

"Yeah?" She replied.

"Ever since what happened with Kelly-...Look, the point is, you, me, and Dick have been together since the beginning. If what's going on with Safe Haven doesn't work out, or something happens with Lily's group-"

Alice gave him a strange look.

"Look, what I'm saying is," Said Riley, "It's you, me, and Dick until the end. If things don't work out, we stick together. Right?"

"Right."

"Us until the end." Said Riley.

"_Us until t__h__e end_." She echoed.

[I didn't exactly like the idea of forming a "pact" with Dick and Riley, but they were obviously the ones I could trust the most. _Us until the end_.]

* * *

ONE MONTH BEFORE THE OUTBREAK.

"Clark? Clark, are you here?" Whispered Alice, stalking through the park just after midnight. She and Clark had agreed to meet at the park, and she had gone through quite a bit of trouble to sneak out of her house to make it on that particular day. However, seeing him again was worth the trouble. She hadn't seen him since the day she left the orphanage, and he rarely had the opportunity to email her, making it all the more exciting to finally see him face-to-face.

She heard rustling on the grass. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind, causing her to yelp in fright.

"Boo." Said Clark, with a grin.

"Don't scare me like that!" She whispered, punching him hard in the arm. Immediately afterwards, she gave him a tight hug, burying her head into his chest.

"I missed you too." Said Clark, pulling away from the hug. Neither of them knew exactly _what_ they were-...friends? Best friends, maybe? Something more? It made no difference to her. He was there for her like no one else was, and that was all she needed to know.

"So, um," She said, "What do we do now?"

"Wanna go look at the stars?"

"From where?"

"_Just follow me_."

In a matter of minutes, she and Clark had climbed the closest tree, and were lounging in the branches, staring up at the clear midnight sky. The branches were a bit uncomfortable for her, but she didn't mind. She loved to climb, especially with him. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"So..." She said, "You're getting adopted...right?"

"From what I've heard."

"You happy about it?"

"Yeah...yeah, I think so."

"I am too."

"...You think we'll see each other again?"

"Of course."

The two kids remained silent for the next hour, silently observing the glistening stars and constellations above their heads.

* * *

PRESENT DAY.

"Keep an eye out for mutants," Said Dick, leading the way through the forest, "You can never be too careful."

Alice and Dick didn't have much else to do, so they decided to search the forest for anything useful(or at least interesting). Scanning her surroundings intently, she saw an object in the distant, enshrouded in trees. A tent.

"Dick," She said, "I think there's a campsite up ahead!"

"Let's go check it out."

She and Dick crept to the campsite, looking about to see an extinguished fire, a small clothesline, and some supplies lying about.

"Looks like somebody's been living here," Noted Dick, "Recently. _Very_ recently."

"Now why would you suspect _that_?" A adolescent, gravely voice behind the two of them startled her. It was coming from a tree.

Twirling around, she and Dick looked up to a certain tree, in which a small teenage boy with brown hair, a cleft-chin, strong jawline, and chocolate brown eyes stood, aiming down at them with a pistol.

Cowering behind the tree which the teenager stood on, a younger boy stood, his face staring at them cautiously. He was smaller than the teenager in the tree, and looked to be related, with similarly-colored hair and freckles on his face, with dark brown eyes.

"Who are you?" Asked the younger kid curiously, stepping out from behind the tree.

"Stay behind me." Ordered the older boy, motioning for the younger kid to stay behind the tree.

"Look, whoever you are-" Began Dick.

"Drop your weapons," Ordered the teenager, "_Then_ we'll talk."

"You got a name?" Asked Alice, as she dropped her gun and baseball bat to the floor.

"Yeah..._Slade_."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, thanks for reading! As usual, I'd appreciate any reviews and suggestions you can give.

Chapter 12, "Long Road Ahead" Preview/Synopsis: Alice faces the threat of newcomers, along with other dangerous threats.

Reader-made OC Credits:

Adam - Created by Cowardlygurp

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen


	12. Long Road Ahead

"So," Said Slade, looking down on them from the tree, "You guys got a camp nearby?"

"Yeah," Replied Alice, "Is that your brother?" She pointed to the young boy behind the tree.

Slade nodded, "That's Jacob. Mind telling me your names?"

"Alice," She answered, "This is Dick."

"You guys got any others in your group?"

"Yeah...quite a few, actually."

* * *

THIRTY MINUTES LATER.

"So," Said Slade, surveying his surroundings as he entered the visitor center, "This is your camp?"

Jacob stayed behind him, cautiously eyeing the members of Alice's group.

[It was obvious from the moment I met Slade and Jacob that they didn't trust easily. It wasn't until Dick mentioned Safe Haven that he agreed to meet the others. I admit, I was surprised that anyone Slade's age could survive this long without help, much less protect his brother, who looked to be eight years old, _at most_. He was a loner, that much was apparent. I wasn't exactly sure _what_ to think of him. Either way, it was obvious that he didn't plan on staying with our group.]

"For now." Replied Dick.

"So you guys honestly believe this 'safe haven' crap?" Questioned Slade.

"Should we _not_?" Replied Abby.

"It's _pretty_ far-fetched if you ask me."

"Well, _none of us did_." Retorted Abby.

"Fair enough."

"We're going to be cooking dinner in about an hour or so," Announced Riley, "You're free to stay."

"Thanks, I'll stay," Said Slade, "But me and Jacob are going to be leaving afterwards. I'm not staying here for long, me and him'll be leaving in the morning, maybe earlier."

"You guys goin' somewhere?" Asked Lana.

"_Not in particular_." He answered, continuing to look over the interior of the visitor center. His brother remained silent, following him through the building.

* * *

It was only just over thirty minutes later, that Alice, Slade, Jacob, and the others sat by a small fire, Leo having constructed a wood grill to suspend the cooking pot over the fire. It was almost dark, only a small amount of light lingering in the air. They were cooking beef jerky soup, a meal which Alice wasn't particularly enthusiastic about. The aroma alone was enough to deter her, having eaten that same meal far too many times in the past.

[I wasn't too sure how much longer I could go on, eating a variant of beef jerky for almost every meal. Ugh.]

Slade's body language made it obvious that he didn't trust them.

"So," Said Alice, turning to him, "How long have you and Jacob been on your own?"

"Since the beginning," He answered, "We've met a few others along the way, but this is about the most interaction we've had with other survivors."

"Trust issues?" Asked Lily.

"I call it _intelligence_." Interjected Morales, one of the few times he'd spoken in quite a while.

"Wait," Joked Abby, "You can _talk_?" Morales ignored her, letting out an irritable grunt.

"Well, dinner's done!" Declared Riley, removing the pot from above the fire.

Looking to Slade, Alice could tell that he was focusing on something outside the visitor center window.

"I thought you said this was _all_ your group." He said, turning to Dick.

"_It is_."

Slade froze.

"Well," He said, pointing out the window, "_Someone's outside_."

The entire group was immediately alarmed, looking to the window. A shadowy figure was sprinted towards the woods, holding a backpack loosely on their shoulder.

"That's not one of ours." Said Abby, unholstering her gun.

Suddenly, a deafening noise shot through the air. There was an explosion of red light just outside the visitor center, a loud boom searing the ears of the survivors. Red sparks fell to the ground. It took a few moments for Alice to understand what the noise was. She wasn't sure _how_, but it was a firework. She and Clark used to sneak out every fourth of July to the park, and watch the fireworks from the playground. None of it made since to her. A firework?

[To be honest, everything that happened that night was a blur. I don't remember much about what happened next. It was chaotic, _to say the least._]

"The hell was that?!" Exclaimed Lily, jumping up.

"A firework?" Guessed Alice.

"Whatever the hell it was," Said Dick, "It's gonna attract a hell of a lot of mutants. We need to get out of here, _now_."

Alice could already see mutants emerging from the forest, drawn by the noise.

"You guys got a car?" Asked Slade, hurrying to help the others pack their things.

"We used to," Replied Alice, equipping her backpack, "Ran out of fuel about three days ago, we had to continue on foot."

"Alright," Announced Dick, opening the door, "Time to go!"

He and the others ran out the door, surrounded by mutants in the street.

"Run to the left!" Yelled Dick, bolting off, dodging mutants as he ran.

Suddenly, gunfire echoed through the air, as Alice and the others hurried to follow him.

"Someone's shooting at us!" Yelled Abby, taking cover behind a broken-down car.

As she was running, Alice heard one particularly delayed gunshot. A searing pain shot through her body, as her leg gave out beneath her. She yelped in pain, falling to the floor.

"Alice!" Exclaimed Adam, helping her to her feet. Her leg was bleeding, although she couldn't feel any pain given the adrenaline. She wasn't quite sure exactly what happened, but her mind's best explanation was that she'd been shot. She was slowing him down, and they had a difficult time avoiding the mutants around them. More gunshots echoed, and the others vanished into the fray of chaos.

"This isn't going to work," Yelled Adam, "We need to head back into the visitor center!"

He helped Alice limp back into the building, mutants following them inside.

"C'mon," Said Alice weakly, "We need to get to the restroom, we'll be safe in there!"

They finally reached the men's restroom, flinging the door open, and locking it behind them. Mutants banged on the door behind them with ferocity, trying to get in.

Things began to get blurry, as Alice's body went numb. Adam's voice began to fade out, as her speech slurred. She blacked out.

The following was a daze. Unsure of how much time passed, she occasionally regained consciousness, seeing blurry glimpses of what was going on. Adam carrying her in his arms. Lots of running. Mutants and moaning. Daylight...Slade?

* * *

THE DAY OF THE OUTBREAK.

"Hello? C-Clark?" Whispered Alice, stalking through the park, "Are you here?"

No response. The police sirens blared closeby,she wasn't quite sure if they were looking for her. She didn't have the opportunity to check the news often, and she considered the possibility of something else going on. Either way, she was waiting for Clark. They'd starting meeting at the park rather often, and she had been looking forward to their meeting. Her "parents" had been acting strangely the entire day, and the occasional scream echoed in the distance. She knew something was wrong, but she didn't want to leave Clark waiting, in case he showed up.

Suddenly, she heard rustling from the bushes. Someone emerged from the brush. It wasn't Clark, instead a much larger man. He appeared to be limping, not having noticed her in the dark. She decided to leave, and avoid being seen.

She crept away, and sprinted back towards her home. It didn't take her long, and she reached her two-story blue-painted house. However, she froze as soon as she rounded the corner onto her street.

Her house was enclosed in yellow tape, restraining some of her neighbors from entering. Police cars were just outside the house. Officers walked about, talking on walkie-talkies.

Soon afterwards, an officer emerged from the house, carrying something covered by a cloth on a stretcher. A dead body.

* * *

PRESENT DAY.

The haze she had previously been in began to lift, as Alice came to her senses. She was in a tent, loosely covered by a sleeping bag for warmth. She sat up, removing the sleeping bag from on top of her.

Her leg was ravaged, covered in a bloody bandage. The brisk morning smell of the forest hit her nose. She began to remember what happened. She tried getting up. Then, the pain hit. Her leg gave a shock of piercing pain, making her lie back down in submission. It was then that she realized she'd been shot.

Footsteps resounded outside the tent, as someone approached her, opening the tent and poking their head inside.

"Good," Said Slade, "You're awake."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, thanks for reading. Reviews and suggestions(as always) are appreciated.

Chapter 13, "Dangerous" Preview/Synopsis: The group is scattered, and Alice is injured, pushing her to new lengths to survive. A new threat emerges.

Reader-made OC Credits:

Adam - Created by Cowardlygurp

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen


	13. Dangerous

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, I ran into a small case of writers block, so I decided to do something different for this chapter. I'm going to shift the attention to the others in Alice's group for this chapter, mainly the ones who are currently separated from her, Slade, and Adam. Let me know what you think once you're done reading(if you can), thanks!

* * *

"W-where am I?" Questioned Alice, doing wincing as she sat up.

"My camp," Answered Slade, "Or what _used_ to be my camp."

"Is anyone else here?"

"Yeah, Adam is. He's out gathering firewood."

"What about the others?"

"Gone."

"...What the hell happened?"

"Not sure, long story short, visitor center's overrun."

"How long was I out?"

"About a day n' a half," Replied Slade, "Once we find some crutches for you, we'll keep moving.

"Shouldn't we wait to find the others?"

"Alice, s_omeone is obviously trying to kill us_. Way I see it, we don't have _time_ to wait. Whoever they are, they're still out there."

"How do you know?"

"They set off a _goddamn firework_ to lure mutants to the visitor center. They shot at us, and almost killed _you_. Do you honestly think they're going to give up _now_? We're separated, and that makes us weaker. Trust me, _they're out there somwhere_."

"I guess this means you're not really going to be leaving after dinner?" Joked Alice.

"_Not 'till I find my brother_."

"Afterwards?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"Fair enough."

They both turned their heads, hearing footsteps outside the tent

"Hey Slade," Called out Adam, "I'm back!"

"Might want to come on over here," Replied Slade, "Alice woke up."

"Good," He replied, "I found a walking stick while I was out searching. With some woodworking, it ought to be enough to support Alice's weight. If she leans on me and the stick, we can probably start walking again."

"Let's not rush things, her wound is serious, to say the least. We don't want any infections."

Slade turned back to Alice.

"Get some rest, me and Adam'll cook dinner. I managed to catch a few squirrels."

She nodded, allowing herself to drift away again.

* * *

FOUR DAYS LATER.

Alice leaned heavily on Adam, using her walking stick to support herself, as she, him, and Slade trekked through the forest. According to Slade, it wasn't safe to travel on the open road, Adam seemed to agree.

"So, what's the plan, exactly?" Asked Adam, "How do we find the others?"

"I have some tracking experience," Said Slade, "But other than that, we don't have much to go on. Hopefully they're looking for us, too."

They could hear the moaning of a nearby mutant, a noise they'd become accustomed to. It was getting closer, now stepping into view from behind a tree.

"I'll take care of this one." Said Slade, approaching the mutant. He removed a shining metal object from his pocket.

He put himself directly in front of the mutant, then struck quickly with a vicious kick to the leg. Alice heard the snap, as the mutant's leg gave out from beneath in, sending it to it's knees. He proceeded to send a strong punch to the mutant's head, putting it down in one hit. At first she was surprised that someone his age could kill a mutant with a single punch, until she saw his hand. Brass knuckles. He didn't bother removing them, leaving them on his hand for future mutant encounters.

[For being roughly fourteen years old, Slade impressed me quite a bit. Back when _I_ was on my own, I had _no idea_ what I was doing. He, on the other hand, was a badass by any perspective. Not to mention that he had to have been _somewhere around eleven_ when this all began.]

"Where'd you learn to do _that_?" Asked Adam.

"Let's just say I took care of myself _long_ before the outbreak."

[Slade was a vague person, to say the least.]

"Hey," Said Alice, "You see that cabin out there?"

Through the brush, the three survivors could see a relatively sizable log cabin, surrounded and obscured by bushes and pine trees.

"Look," Said Slade, keeping his voice low, and pointing to the cabin's chimney, "There's smoke coming from the chimney. Someone's living there."

"Well then what're we waiting for?" Asked Adam, "It's probably the others!"

"Keep your voice down," Said Slade, analyzing his surroundings, "_Someone tried to kill us last night_, we need to be smart about this."

"So then," Said Alice, supporting herself on a tree, "What's the plan?"

"I'll go out and do some scouting," Said Slade, "See if anyone's home- and who they are. You two stay here."

She and Adam didn't have time to respond, before Slade quietly darted towards the cabin, keeping low on his feet. He made his way to the cabin's side window, peering in as she and Adam kept watch.

A noise behind her and Adam broke Alice's focus, causing both of them to turn around. It was too late. Three other survivors stood behind them, guns raised. Two men, one woman.

"We don't want any trouble," Said Alice, raising her hands.

The woman stepped forward, with a long pointed nose, brown hair hanging to her shoulders, and a trimmed figure. She had her gun aimed directly at Adam.

"Well," The woman quipped, "_We don't always get what we want_. Drop your weapons, and come with me."

The two survivors reluctantly dropped their guns, Alice secretly keeping a switchblade knife hidden in her shoe. Turning to the cabin, the mysterious woman led them forward, the two others in her group keeping them guarded from the back with rifles. Slade was nowhere to be seen.

"You're the one who set off the firework back at the visitor center, aren't you?" Asked Adam, as the woman led them through the wooden door into the cabin.

"First of all," Replied the woman, having the two men force Adam and Alice to sit on the floor, "I ask the questions."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Sassy one, are we? So," Said the woman, "Where's your buddies?"

Alice gave her a confused look.

"Don't bullshit me. We know there's others in your group, things'll be _far_ easier for the both of you if you tell us where they are."

"We don't know," Answered Alice, "We got separated after the visitor center was overrun."

"Well then you're not much use to me, _now are you_?" Said the woman.

"..How many people are in your group, exactly?" Asked Alice, without expecting an honest answer.

"Maybe a lot, maybe a little. Does it matter?"

"Who the hell _are_ you?" Asked Adam.

"Name's Holly," Replied the woman, "This is Lenny, and my husband Wren."

Lenny was a cold-faced brute, with a large scar across his face. He had messy black hair, accented by similarly-colored eyes. Wren, on the other hand, seemed more normal, with dirty blonde hair covered by a hat, and dark green eyes, being a rather short an overweight person.

"Not very talkative," Teased Holly, "Are you?"

"What exactly do you want from us?" Asked Adam.

Through the corner of her eye, Alice spotted Slade looking in through the window, staying out of sight. She did her best not to give him away, quickly turning in the opposite direction as soon as she saw him.

"Nothing, yet." Answered Holly, "But if I keep you two around for a while, you might be _useful_ in the future."

"The hell does that mean?"

"_It_ _means_, you stay with us and help me find your group, and depending on my mood, I _might_ let you live. But then again, I'll probably kill you anyways. Depends on if you behave yourselves." She gave Alice a joking pat on the head.

[I could tell from the moment I met Holly that she was unbalanced. Even somewhat sadistic at times. Either way, one thing was for sure, she was _dangerous_. _Very dangerous_.]

"Bottom line;" Added Holly, "_You do what I say, I don't kill you...probably._" She broke into brief laughter, then stood up.

[It was obvious at that point that finding the others would be harder than I'd expected. And more dangerous. I knew the road to Safe Haven would be longer than any of us had hoped. That is, _if we made it there alive_.]

* * *

Riley's black hair shined dark brown in the bright sunlight, as he gazed into his reflection in the muddied window. Before the outbreak he'd inspect his reflection several times a day, self-conscious of his looks. However, nowadays none of that mattered to him. He had let his hair grow out in the time after him and the group left the cabins, and it had now grown quite long, now hanging about an inch below his ears. It was messy and unkept, often getting in his eyes. Dirt saturated his face, his arms dusty and dry. He didn't have much time nowadays to maintain his appearance, not that he cared much anyways.

He and the others had been searching for Alice, Slade, and Adam, when they stumbled upon a log cabin in the forest. It looked as if someone had been there recently, possibly those three. Either way, everyone was tired and worn from the events of the past few days. However, they all agreed that it wasn't safe to settle until they found the missing others.

"Hey," Said Dick suddenly from behind, startling him, "You comin'? We're gonna keep moving."

"Yeah." Replied Riley, swinging his backpack over his shoulder.

He and Dick joined the others, and continued trekking through the forest. Everyone was tired, but no one bothered complaining. He was surprised to find, as he walked at a steady pace through the forest with the others, that he _missed_ Alice. He was worried. It hadn't been since Zella died that he'd truly missed someone, and the feeling wasn't one he was comfortable with. Although he'd witnessed firsthand Alice's ability to take care of herself, he couldn't help but worry for her safety.

He wasn't quite sure what was going on with Jacob, and whether or not he and Slade planned on staying in the group once they reunited with each other. Jacob distanced himself from the group, talking rarely. It was obvious that the only person he was truly comfortable around was Slade. Being brothers, it was something Riley could relate to. He and Zella were similar before she died, often isolating themselves from the others in their group. It amazed him that someone as young as Jacob could survive such a long time without a large group. He wasn't quite sure how old he was, but his appearance was that of someone who hadn't even yet reached the double-digits in age, although he was rather mature for his age, much like his brother.

* * *

Lana reached into Dick's backpack with his permission, removing a lukewarm bottle of water from it's side pouch. She took a few swigs, then loosely placed it back. Her legs felt like weights, and each step had become a struggle for her. She and the group had been walking for hours, searching for Alice and the other missing survivors.

"We got a destination in mind?" Asked Lana, looking to Dick.

"Not really." He replied, gruffly.

"So what's the point?"

"We need to find Alice, Adam, and Slade, no matter what it takes. For now, that means we need to wander until we find them."

"Will it really do any good?"

"Let's hope so."

Lana wanted to find Alice just as much as the others, especially given all Alice had done for her, but it all seemed pointless to her. Leaving the cabins. Going to Colorado. Taking Slade and Jacob in. Searching for Alice, Adam and Slade. In her opinion, it was a mistake to leave the cabins in the first place, but her opinion didn't hold much value among the group. In many ways, she was still the outcast, just like when she'd first joined the group. Alice had been the only one who'd trusted her, and it didn't appear that that would change anytime soon.

Lana had changed in the time since they'd left the cabins, as did all the others. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail, instead she let her hair down messily in favor of letting it grow out. She didn't have time to trim it anymore. Plus, she had decided that it was time for a change anyways. She didn't want the others to see her as the empty-headed woman who blindly followed Mac anymore. She wanted them to see her as Lana, no one else. She was tired of being the outcast. Then again, she was tired of just about everything.

* * *

Morales' mind was blank, as he walked along, following the others. It was all so alien to him. The people. The social interaction. The friendships. He wasn't used to any of it, not since the Atlanta camp. Not since Shane. Not since his family. Frankly, he genuinely cared little for what became of the others, much less _himself_. His mind was dead, his only fuel his instinct to survive. The others did their best to convince him that he could be happy after what happened, but he knew otherwise. They didn't know him. No one did. He didn't need them to.

"Hey Morales," Greeted Abby, walking beside him, "You got any idea where we're going?"

"Ask Dick." He replied, without making eye contact.

"Kay, thanks."

"Mhm."

Abby was the one who often tried to interact with him, who tried to 'bring him out of his shell'. She didn't understand him, and neither did the others. He wanted to be left alone.

* * *

"Okay, I say we camp here for the night." Said Dick, as they arrived at a small clearing in the trees. The sun was going down, and it would soon be too dark to keep traveling. Nowadays the nights weren't like they used to be before the outbreak. Before the outbreak, light were everywhere. City lights. Car lights. Everything else. But now, there were no lights in the sky. Just the stars. It was beautiful, in a way.

"You don't have to tell _me_ twice..." Replied an exhausted Lily, practically _falling_ on the ground to rest.

Dick was tired of searching, but he couldn't stand the thought of not finding Alice and Adam. Plus, Jacob needed to find his brother. Then again, they had no real confirmation that the three were together. For all they knew, they were each separated from each other. He put away such thoughts for the next day, and helped set up tents with the others.

He wasn't quite sure why, but the others seemed to look to _him_ for guidance. They saw him as their leader. Why him, of all people? After all, he had no real experience leading _anyone_. Throughout his life, _he'd_ always been the follower. During his childhood. In the army. With his friends. And yet somehow, these people followed _him_.

* * *

Lily was too tired to help the others with the camp. She was stressed and worried. Would they notice? Would they find out about the baby? Would Alice tell them? Was Alice evn still alive? What about Adam? All the questions in her head terrorized her constantly. She couldn't think. She couldn't focus.

"Lily," Said Leo, breaking her from her trance of thought, "You okay?"

"Yeah," She replied with a forced smile, "Just a little tired."

"I know the feeling."

She forced herself to stand, and reluctantly went to help the others.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, thanks for reading. I decided to do this chapter a little differently to provide some depth for characters other than Alice, let me know what you think. Also, if you don't have time for a full review, feel free to simply rate the chapter on a scale of 1-10.

Chapter 14, "A House Divided" Preview/Synopsis: The group's separation puts everyone in danger, as Holly's group become a grater threat than ever before.

Reader-made OC Credits:

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen

Adam - Created by Cowardlygurp


	14. A House Divided

It was musty. Musty and dark. Alice wasn't quite sure what Holly's group planned to do with her and Adam, but for now they'd been imprisoned in the basement of a small house on the outskirts of the road. The door to the basement was boarded and barricaded(not to mention locked), locking them inside. Their hands were bound messily with rope, and it was obvious that Holly wasn't very worried of them escaping, barely bothering to restrain them whatsoever. Adam was mostly silent, quietly trying to find a way out.

"Look, Adam," Said Alice, turning to him in the dark, "If there was another way out, we would've found it already."

"Guess so." Replied a frustrated Adam, finally giving up.

"I can hear Holly and her group through the floorboards, my guess is they're close by anyways."

"Yeah...good point, I guess."

"I want to get out of here just as much as you," Said Alice, keeping her voice low, "But we need to be smart about this. Slade's still out there, he's our best hope of getting out of here."

"What if he doesn't want to help us? After all, he's only in this to find his brother. If I had to guess, he's probably already found the others, and left without a word."

"Not much of an optimist, are you?"

"I suppose not." Alice could vaguely see him grin in the darkness.

"So...how'd you end up at the cabins in the first place," Asked Adam, resorting to conversation to keep his mind occupied, "Anyways?"

"Dick found me on a supply run, they brought me in. There were more people at the cabins back then."

"So you were alone before you met them?"

"Yeah."

Adam nodded, as awkward silence set in.

"So," Said Alice, "_Your turn_. How'd you end with Lily's group?"

"I was traveling with my stepdad for a while into the outbreak, we ran into Lily and Jay at a gas station, we met the others soon afterwards...my stepdad died a few weeks before we found the cabins."

She wasn't quite sure how to respond, so she chose not to.

[I was never very good at listening to other's backstories. To me, it was just another story of death and survival, no different than mine. In my opinion, all that matters is the present, not the past.]

"Um, if you don't mind me asking," He added awkwardly, "...What happened to your parents?"

"I never really had any, I was raised in an orphanage, I'm told my parents split up when I was just below two years old, my dad went to prison, mom didn't have the money to take care of me."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'm glad I didn't have parents, _in a way_."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," She explained, "In my opinion, I would've never survived if I had parents. Being an orphan taught me to be independent, which is why I've made it this far."

"Makes sense." He replied, pausing for a moment, "...Do you ever hate your parents? You know, for leaving you?"

She was caught off-guard. He usually wasn't one to ask personal questions(although they hadn't interacted much in the past).

"...Not really, actually. I guess I've never really understand the need for a parent. After all, I don't exactly know what one's like."

Suddenly, commotion erupted just outside the basement door. Someone was moving the barricade from the door. The lock on the door turned, and someone swung the door open suddenly, sending a burst of light into Alice and Adam's eyes. The light was blinding for a few seconds, but her eyes quickly adjusted. Lenny's bulky form stood in front of them, glaring at them.

"Get up," He ordered gruffly, "Holly wants to see you."

Without a word, the two survivors stood to their feet, walking with him him through the corridors of the house. He kept his gun trained on them at all times, escorting them from the back.

They arrived in the living room, where Holly sat carelessly, lounging sideways on a reclining chair. She had Alice's baseball bat in her hands, toying with it, much to Alice's irritation.

"This is a nice bat you've got here," Teased Holly, "Where'd you get it?"

"What is it you want?" Asked Alice, ignoring her.

"Don't feel like small talk, do you? Fine, I'll get to the point. I need a simple 'favor' from you."

Holly retrieved a small walkie-talkie from her pocket, presenting it to Alice, who immediately recognized it as her own, the one she or Dick would use to talk to the others when on supply runs. She'd completely forgotten about it. It had been sitting on the counter of the gift shop when the visitor center was overrun.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Please Alice," Replied Holly, "Don't bore me with pointless questions. It's a simple task. Call your friends, tell them to meet you back at the visitor center."

"I'm going to assume you don't actually plan on that meeting taking place?" Asked Alice, knowing the obvious answer.

"Well," Answered Holly, "Perhaps they won't be meeting with you."

"What are you going to do to them?" Asked Adam angrily.

"That's not your concern. I _am_." She replied.

"Why the hell would I do anything for you," Retorted Alice, "Much less that?"

"Because, sweetie," She replied, standing up and unholstering her gun, aiming it at Adam, "I'm the one with the gun."

"Now," She added, placing the walkie-talkie in Alice's hand, "Be a good girl, and _make the call_."

[It was a split-second decision. I had no doubt in my mind that Holly would kill Adam if I didn't obey her, but I couldn't live with the thought of having sent my own group into a trap. In the end, I didn't have a choice.]

"_Fine_."

Alice reluctantly raised the walkie-talkie, pressing it's button to communicate with the others.

"Hello? Dick?" She had difficulty containing her nervousness, failing to sound convincing. After a few seconds of waiting, she breathed in relief. Out of range, she assumed. That, or Dick didn't have the other walkie-talkie.

"Alice?" Dick's electronic voice through the speaker startled her, "Is that you?"

"Yeah- yeah, it's me."

"Where the hell have you been? I've tried calling your walkie-talkie over and over-"

Suddenly, Adam lunged forward, snatching the walkie-talkie from her hands. Before anyone could react, he threw it to the ground, smashing it beneath his feet with a loud stomping. Lenny grabbed Adam by the arm, flinging him the floor, and kicking him hard in the side with his boot.

"Damnit you two," Said Holly, as Lenny raised Adam to his feet roughly, "I warned you. This could've been easy, but now you've complicated things. Now...things are going to be difficult."

Wren held Alice back, as Holly put her gun directly to Adam's head, who was being restrained by Lenny. He remained silent, glaring at her.

"Come to think of it," She added, the distinctive clicking of the gun's pin breaking the silence of the room, "I only need one of you alive."

Without remorse, Holly pulled the trigger. Alice was in shock, as blood stained the nearby wall, and Adam's body fell to the ground.

"You bastards!" Screamed Alice, fighting to get free from Wren's grip.

"_Put her back in the basemen_t." Ordered Holly nonchalantly, wiping blood from her face and holstering her gun.

She struggled, but it was no use. Wren roughly dragged her down the hallway, and shoved her into the basement, readjusting the barricades. She slammed on the door, but it wouldn't budge. After a few minutes of vain escape attempts, she practically fell to the ground in exhaustion and anger.

[Just like that, Adam was dead. Holly had absolutely no conscience, and I knew she'd have no reservations doing the same to me. I hadn't spent much time with Adam before he died, but it made no difference. I was enraged.]

* * *

She wasn't quite sure how much time had passed, not that she kept track much nowadays. It had taken hours, but she had finally dozed off unintentionally, falling asleep on the dirty floor, the past events having exhausted her greatly. It was the first sleep she'd had in over a day.

It was hard to tell, but based on the lack of commotion above, it was nighttime. She arose, rubbing her blurry eyes. She soon realized what had woken her. Although faint, footsteps were creaking the floor boards above, approaching the entrance to the basement slowly.

Despite being groggy, reality quickly set in, and it took only moments for her to position herself by the door to ambush whoever opened it. She didn't exactly have a plan of attack, but after what Holly did to Adam, it didn't matter to her. She wanted them dead, one way or another.

The creaking stopped, just as someone reached the door. The barricades were quietly removed. After a moment of nervous silence, the doorknob turned. She allowed the door to turn in, hiding behind it as it opened. A figure entered, and she was in the air, flinging her arm over his mouth, keeping him from yelling. Oddly enough, the young boy didn't panic, and instead stood still. Slade.

Coming to her senses, she lifted her hand from his mouth.

"Damnit Alice," He whispered, turning to her, "You scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry," Replied Alice quietly, following him out of the basement, "...Where the hell have you been?"

"I've been following you for a while," He replied without eye contact, surveying the dark corridors of the house for any signs of trouble, "I didn't have a chance to get you out until now."

After a moment's realization, a wave of anger swept over her, as she roughly grabbed him by the shoulder.

"_Are you kidding me_?!" She whispered loudly, trying to keep her voice down, "Adam is _dead_, and you've been out there this entire time?!"

"Alice, calm down. We don't have time for this. If I had tried to rescue you and Adam earlier, I would've been killed too. _I don't owe you people anything_. In my opinion, you should be thanking me for not simply abandoning you in the first place."

She was still furious, but did her best to control her temper, as they reached the front door of the house, which was slightly ajar. Putting his finger to his mouth, Slade opened the door for her, watching her back as she exited the house quietly.

Taking one final look back into the house before Slade closed the door, Alice could see Adam's bloodied jacket lying on the floor. She paused for a moment, before swiftly running away with Slade into the forest.

* * *

Holly groaned groggily in her British-tinted accent, turning to face Lenny. He was standing over her, having woken her up with a rough push on the shoulder. She sat up in bed next to Wren, rubbing her eyes. The sun had barely risen, casting an orange tint to the forest trees outside.

"What is it?" She questioned, irritated.

"The girl...she escaped." He answered impatiently.

"...Get the others."

Lenny nodded, removing car keys from his pocket.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

A few things to tell you guys:

1) Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter, I've been doing a number of other things, including updating my other series, and starting my own roleplaying forum.

2) I appreciate any reviews, even if it's a simple rating on a scale of 1-10.

3) I've gotten some more OC creation requests, I'm not yet at a point in the story where I can introduce them, I'll get to it soon. I'm doing my best to keep the series from getting crowded, so be as patient as you can.

4) The idea of killing off Adam in the chapter was not originally planned, it simply popped into my head at the last minute, and I decided the chapter could use a little shock factor to keep things interesting. Let me know what you think!

Reader-made OC Credits:

Adam(R.I.P.) - Created by Cowardlygurp

Chapter 15, "Amid The Ruins" Preview/Synopsis: Alice and Slade navigate a hostile environment, desperate to find her missing group, while evading Holly's.


	15. Descent

Alice silently gathered firewood beside Slade, nearby the house whose roof they'd camped on. It was Slade's idea to sleep on the roof, an idea which impressed Alice in ingenuity. He wasn't very talkative, and after what happened to Adam, neither was she. They'd already set up their sleeping bags, and ate, but Slade insisted they pack some wood branches into his backpack for future campfires, given the fact that he'd predicted it would rain soon. He was analytic and intelligent about everything, keeping a stable mind no matter the circumstances, something she admired.

It wasn't long until they went to sleep, curled up on the flat roof of the house inside their sleeping bags. However, Alice quickly found it difficult to fall asleep, turning occasionally. Slade didn't seem to care much about sleep, simply looking up at the stars.

"Why'd you do it," Asked Alice eventually, turning to look at the sky as well, "Anyways?"

"Do what?" Replied Slade, without breaking his focus upwards.

"You know, _come back for me_."

It took him a moment to respond.

"You were my best chance of finding my brother. It was mostly survival."

"Mostly?"

Alice turned to him. No response.

"So," Said Alice, changing the subject, "Where'd you learn to do stuff like that? You start fires better than anyone I've ever met, and you don't look older than 14."

"Well, for one," Replied Slade, "I'm 13. Secondly, I learned most of what I know from my dad. Plus, I used to own a knife collection when I was a kid, I've always been interested in that sort of thing."

"You dad sounds like a good parent."

"Well, he _wasn't_."

Slade's answer was vague, and Alice decided to not pry on the subject. Over time, awkward silence once again fell upon the two, as they continued to gaze upwards.

[It's interesting how, before the outbreak, a thirteen year old would've never gotten along with someone over three years older; yet afterwards, age made no difference. Race made no difference. We were all survivors, not much else matters nowadays. Perhaps that's the one good thing that came from all of this.]

"You know," He said, "It's kind of interesting. How before all of this, you'd _never_ be able to see stars like this in a city sky. Too many lights, too many people."

Alice nodded in agreement.

"When you really think about it," He added, "Mankind plagued this planet _long_ before mutants did."

"Maybe it's time the planet took control of things for a while." Agreed Alice.

"In a way," Said Slade, "_This outbreak is the best thing that's ever happened to me_."

"I'm guessing things weren't so good for you before?"

"Not exactly."

"Before the outbreak," She said, "I was content, sort of. I had less than most people, but that was more than enough for me. I had less to lose than most people."

"I had _nothing_ to lose."

[Slade was the vaguest person I ever met. It was obvious that his brother was the only one he _really_ trusted. Or perhaps he was that way with everyone.]

"So," Continued Slade, a few moments later, "You and Riley. You're dating, right?"

"What?" Replied Alice, surprised, "No."

"Oh. Kind of got the impression."

"And why is that?"

Slade shrugged. "You guys seem similar, guess it made sense to me."

"Hm."

"You like him," Guessed Slade, "Don't you?"

"Um...I _guess_."

[Slade still had that somewhat immature attitude of a 13 year old, yet was more mature than most adults at times. An odd combination.]

"So," She said, "What's your plan once you find your brother? Are you leaving the group?"

"Maybe...it depends, I guess."

"On what?"

He shrugged again. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. That is, if our asses don't get shot by then."

"...Well," He concluded after a few moments of silence, "Good night."

"'Night."

After their conversation, she fell asleep easier than usual, despite the ever-present moaning of nearby mutants, some of which had noticed them on the roof, and were clawing at the wall below. Despite all that was happening, it was a peaceful night.

* * *

Slade was right. Alice was awoken the next morning by droplets of rain falling on her face. It was raining, just as he'd predicted. She had little time to get up, quickly gathering her things. She yawned, as her and Slade ventured into the forest, having assembled their things.

They covered ground quickly, occasionally bombarded by rain that the tree branches failed to block. Eventually they stopped to rest, sitting down beneath a particularly dense patch of branches. Slade stayed standing.

"Just saying," Advised Slade, "You'll get your energy back faster if you rest while standing."

Alice, having come to take his advice constantly, stood.

"I'm not even going to _bother_ asking where you learned that." Replied Alice, catching her breath.

"It's an old hiking trick."

Alice smiled, but his face abruptly turned serious. He put his finger to his mouth, crouching low.

"We've got a problem." He whispered, pointing directly in front of them, motioning Alice to stay low.

It only took a moment for her to recognize the faces nearby. Holly. Wren. Lenny. Oddly enough, there were others. At least nine others. They were obviously looking for something, or _someone_.

"C'mon." Whispered Slade, signaling her to follow him.

The two survivors quickly stalked through the forest, in the opposite direction of Holly's group.

"Man," Commented Slade softly, "They _really_ want you back."

"Where did the others come from?" Asked Alice, "I counted at least nine others. Ones I've never seen before."

"Doesn't matter where they came from, the point is they're after us."

* * *

Lana adjusted her backpack strap, her shoulders aching from the weight. At this point, there was little that her and the others could do but hope. There was not guarantee that Alice, Adam, and Slade were still alive, much less nearby. Some of the others, mainly Morales, wanted to leave them behind, and keep moving towards Safe Haven. After everything Alice had done for her, she wasn't willing to leave her behind, and neither were Dick or Riley.

They were camped by a small stream in the forest, and she was busy keeping watch with Riley. He seemed distracted, fiddling with his gun, and staring into the forest.

"You really think we'll find them?" Asked Lana, without making eye contact.

"...Yeah," He replied, turning to her, "I think so."

"You know...we might find something you don't want to find."

"Yeah. I know."

"You miss her, don't you?"

"...Yeah, I guess I do."

"I'm sure she'll turn up."

"Yeah," Nodded Riley, "...Maybe."

* * *

Lily was worried. She was getting headaches and quickly finding herself exhausted, and the others were on the verge of noticing her pregnancy. She wasn't quite sure why she didn't want to tell the others, but the idea of them knowing scared her. At least until they find somewhere safe, where her baby could be safe. Then again, where is safe?

Dick came over, and sat down on the log next to her. His eyes were dark, and his exhausted demeanor wasn't encouraging. His face was drained of color, and his hair was now messily parted on the left.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," She replied, breathing heavily, "I think so."

"You been drinking enough water? You don't want to get de-"

"No, it's not that. I'm fine."

"Um, okay. Let me know if you need anything." Dick stood up, and walked away. She knew that he was on to her. She was tired of lying. Or maybe she was just plain _tired_.

* * *

Jacob did his best to remain calm, doing his best to avoid the others. His brother was missing. He was surrounded by strangers. He wasn't sure if he could trust these people.

But, he did his best to hide it, helping out around camp. As he helped nail tent stakes into the ground with Leo, Leo suddenly spoke up, startling him.

"You're that kid's brother," Said Leo, "Right? The one Alice and Dick brought back from the forest?"

"Yeah..." Replied Jacob awkwardly, "That's me."

"You got a name?"

"No." Jacob grinned at his own sarcasm, beginning to feel more comfortable. Leo was amused. "Actually, my name's Jacob. What's yours?"

"I'm Leo." They shook hands.

"You guys are going to find my brother," Asked Jacob, catching Leo off guard, "Right?"

"Yeah, of course. Your brother's tough, he'll be fine."

"Yeah...I know. It's just weird not having him here."

"I understand feeling out of place more than anyone else. I see where you're coming from. Now, go get me a water bottle from Riley, will you, buddy?"

"Mhm!" Jacob nodded, feeling mature and useful. Maybe being with these people wasn't as bad as he thought. As long as Slade came back soon, of course.

* * *

Riley was caught off-guard by the sound of footsteps nearby. Quick-footed and silent ones. He recognized them afar off, and nearly yelled to them in excitement. Alice and Slade.

Lana quickly saw them as well, and they called out to them in unison.

"ALICE!"

Alice was in Riley's arms in seconds, hugging him tightly. Slade ran past them, and went to find his brother.

"Where's Adam?" Asked Riley, pulling away from the embrace.

"...Dead." Alice didn't want to continue talking on the subject, and immediately ran to see the others.

"We need to leave..._now_." She added sternly, as she ran to talk to Dick.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

1) Sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter, I've been preoccupied with Author's Arena(my forum contest).

2) I always appreciate reviews.

Reader-made OC's:

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Chapter 16, "Amid The Ruins" Preview/Synopsis: Alice's group is on the verge of reaching Safe Haven, but things turn in directions unexpected.


	16. Amid The Ruins

THREE WEEKS LATER.

It wasn't often that Alice got nervous. Afraid, maybe. Angry, often. And yet, she found herself in anxious anticipation. After so much traveling, they were on the verge of reaching Safe Haven - and finding out if everything they'd lost and risked was worth it. They'd found obvious signs of people in the area, but that could mean anything.

They hadn't seen Holly's group since their encounter in the forest, and were constantly on-guard in case of a unexpected meeting, if they hadn't already lost them. Everyone was nervous about what they'd find. What they _wouldn't_. Thought swirled through her head, as she lie on her stomach atop a crimson-sheeted bed.

[Despite the fact that Safe Haven had always been a long shot, we really had no backup plan.]

"Hey," Greeted Riley, startling her, "You ready to keep moving?"

"Oh," She answered, putting her journal(one of many, following the others she'd already filled) down, "Yeah."

"The others are waiting."

Riley led her downstairs, where the rest of the group was waiting, in the living room of the house they were lodging in. They were all tired, some of them obviously didn't sleep the previous night, kept awake by the anticipation. They all had their weapons ready, marred by scars and dirt.

"Alright," Announced Dick, raising his voice above the others, "Looks like we're ready to go. Let's keep moving."

It didn't take long for the group to repeat the familiar routine of gathering their belongings, and walking out the front door. They started out on the road, heading further from the border of Colorado, which they'd passed a week back.

[After all the strange occurrences during our journey, Slade was the one who intrigued me the most. After all his talk about leaving the group, and his constant parading of his independence, he chose to stay. Maybe we rubbed off on him, maybe he just made a strange decision. Either way, I'm glad he stayed. The others quickly came to agree, as he helped us get through the journey more than anyone else.]

Alice kept her eyes on Lily, who was falling behind rapidly. She fell back with her, and did her best to keep her on track.

[And then there's Lily. She managed to keep his pregnancy a secret to everyone except me, doing her best to hide her exhaustion from the others. She wasn't ready for a journey like that, and she knew it. But, I still did what I could to cover for her. Frankly, it was all unnecessary in my opinion. But, she said she wasn't ready to tell the others, and I respected that.]

"You doing okay?" Asked Dick, falling back from the front to talk to Lily.

Lily nodded, panting heavily. The other began to notice, slowing their pace.

"Need a break?" He continued.

"No," Replied Lily brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face, "I'm good."

Dick opened his mouth, but was quickly interrupted by commotion from the others.

A few mutants had emerged from the brush, most of which were quickly dispatched by Riley, Lana and Abby.

One particular mutant advanced towards Slade. He signaled for the others to stand back, then lunged forward at the mutant, grabbing it by the shoulder and arm. He shot his leg behind it's, and jerked it backwards roughly, sending the mutant falling backwards onto it's back, where he quickly finished it with a few blows from his brass knuckles.

[Slade enjoyed showing off, and as mature as he was, he was still thirteen. It was kind of funny, to be honest.]

"We're gonna need more water if we want to keep this pace," Said Riley, turning to Dick, "Dick."

"Sound good," Replied Dick, "You and Alice go west of the road, where we found the creek from yesterday. With a little luck, it should still be here this far up the road."

Riley nodded, quickly venturing into the forest with Alice.

[Dick had quickly fit into a leadership position in the group, no longer afraid to give commands. I liked it that way, and the others did too.]

* * *

It took a bit less than expected to find the creek, and Alice and Riley had their bottles re-filled before the end of the hour. The creek was deeper than she'd expected, with small fish occasionally swimming into view. Rocks were half-submerged in the water, some bigger than others. The peaceful scene was accented by the autumn-leaved trees surrounding the creek, and the dim sight of mountains in the distance. It was serene, but she was anxious to leave and get on their way.

"Let's get going," Suggested Alice, grabbing Riley by the arm, stopping him from walking away, "We can't spend too much time here."

"Lighten up, will ya?" Replied Riley playfully, "Let's explore a little, we've got plenty of time."

Dropping his backpack, he grabbed her by the hand, and tugged her forward, to explore further down the creek. She pulled away, but reluctantly followed him nonetheless, leaving her backpack with his.

"C'mon," He encouraged, jumping from half-submerged rock to another gleefully, "_It'll be fun_."

[I hadn't done anything like that since the cabins, and it was refreshing to have some fun for once. It distracted us from the hunger. From the exhaustion. From _everything_.]

Alice had to work hard to keep up with Riley, as he nonchalantly jumped from rock to rock, exploring the creek thoroughly. Just as he began to outrun her further, he stopped dead in his tracks.

He was standing on the edge of a small ledge, a miniature waterfall flowing beneath his feet, above a particularly large pool of water.

"Alice," Said Riley excitedly, turning around, "You've got to see this!"

She quickly caught up with him, and saw what he was admiring.

The ledge was about five feet tall, overlooking a pool of water. The pool was far deeper than any other areas of the creek, being at least ten feet deep in some parts, from what she could see.

"You wanna jump?" Asked Riley.

"Are you serious?" She replied nervously.

"It's perfect for swimming, we might as well." His voice became more immature and excited.

"Hell no. No way."

"Why not?" He gave her a quizzical look.

"I dunno," She replied, blushing nervously, "I guess I just don't like deep water."

"You mean you're afraid of it?"

"Well, n-...Yeah, I guess."

[Not really sure what it was about deep water that freaked me out. My biggest fear had always been crocodiles, and any deep water outside of a pool terrified me. I knew it wasn't logical, but it freaked me out nonetheless.]

"It's just water," Said Riley, "You'll be fine. Just jump in. I'll do it with you."

Looking down at the clear yet dark water, Alice quickly made up her mind.

"Let's just go back to the others, they're waiting for us."

"C'mon, how often do you get opportunities like this? The others'll be fine."

"_I'm not jumping_." Alice's voice was stern.

"Is that so?" Questioned Riley, a devious grin spreading across his face.

He reached out, lightning fast, grabbed her by the hand, and prepared to jump in with her.

"Don't you fucking dare Riley, I swear to g-" Alice tried to protest, but he had already jumped over the ledge, taking her with him.

She screamed, Riley clearly enjoying her fright. Then, she hit the water. The water was refreshing, but cold. As soon as she hit the water, she scrambled to stand, only to find that the water was too deep. Riley was laughing, wiping the water off his face, and swimming around playfully.

"See?" He teased, "It's not _that_ bad!"

As much as she longed to drown Riley in the moment, her priority was to get out of the water. Fast. She quickly swam to the shore, the wilderness breeze causing her to shiver as soon as she exited. Riley followed, laughing uncontrollably the entire time, and joined her on the shore.

"You gotta admit, that was at least a _little_ fun, right?" He joked, his eyes bright.

He could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't amused.

"I...am going to _murder_ you."

* * *

Dick sat with the others by the side of the road, waiting for Riley and Alice to get back. It was getting colder out, as they moved further into Colorado, and the middle of fall approached.

As little support as he gave it in the first place, he regretted leaving the cabins. But, there he was, on the verge of finding whether leaving was worth it. He wanted to find other survivors, and live in something more than a few log stacks in the mountains, but going to Colorado wasn't the way to do it, in his opinion.

After all, although they'd found signs of people in the area, it still didn't sit well with him. It was too risky. But, there was no going back at this point.

Lana scooted closer to him, grabbing his water bottle, and taking a swig.

"You got any ideas on how we're gonna find Safe Haven?" She asked, after placing the bottle down.

"We'll figure something out," He replied, taking a drink himself, "If they're really an open community, we shouldn't have any trouble finding them. Lily says they were supposed to be just near the border, from what she remembers hearing."

"So we just keep walking until we find something?"

"Yeah, basically."

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by Riley and Alice emerging from the forest, having returned from the river.

"We found the river," Announced Riley, we filled up at least nineteen bottles, we shoulder be good, at least for a while."

"Why are you both wet?" Asked Abby, giving them a funny look.

Alice glared at Riley half-jokingly.

"Let's keep moving." Suggested Morales.

"Agreed." Said Dick, equipping his backpack, as Riley distributed the refilled bottles of water.

* * *

It had been hours. It felt like days. The straps on Alice's backpack felt like knives, digging into her shoulder, pulled down by the weight of her backpack. Her leg, although slightly healed(and supported by a walking stick), ached badly. It was obvious that she needed to rest it, even though her wound was only a bullet graze in the shin. However, her exhaustion quickly faded away, as she and the others gathered around the decayed corpse of a deer they'd found on the outskirts of the forest.

"Someone shot this with a rifle," Noted Slade, examining the dead body, "There must be hunters in the area...which means _people_."

"Hostile or friendly," He added, "That's the question."

"Only one way to find out," Said Dick, "You think you can track whoever did this?"

"Doubt it," Replied Slade, "This happened a while ago, at least a week. It's rained since then, so I doubt I'll be able to read any tracks."

"How about we search the forest a little? Chances are, whoever did this didn't go too far." Suggested Leo.

"Sounds like a plan," Agreed Dick, "Let's get going."

"Okay," Said Lana loudly, "Am I the _only_ one who thinks this is a bad idea? We have absolutely _no idea_ who these people are."

"I'm with her." Agreed Morales.

"We've come too far to stop now," Replied Dick, "We'll be cautious."

With that, Alice's group began to trek through the forest, keeping an eye out for anyone else in the area.

* * *

Abby did her best to concentrate on the matter at hand, to no avail. Her thoughts were preoccupied with her boyfriend. After being away from him for so long, she might finally find him again. They'd been separated long ago, and even the longshot chance of finding him at Safe Haven made her anxious.

His flirtatious hazel eyes and clean-cut face occupied her thoughts. She missed being able to fall asleep next to him, she missed the feeling of being safe, even in the ravaged world they lived in. She missed _him_.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted, when she tripped over a small contraption on the ground, falling to the ground with a thud.

"You okay?" Asked Alice, approaching from behind.

"Yeah, fine."

Standing up and brushing herself off, Abby looked down at what had tripped her. It was a now-overturned cage, with several sticks and a string attached. Although it had been messed up by her foot, it was obvious that it was a hunter's trap.

"Looks like someone's been setting traps out here," Noted Slade, "This one was meant for smaller animals- squirrels, probably."

"How long you think it's been here?" Asked Lana.

"Hard to tell. Maybe hours, maybe days, maybe months."

"Guys." Said Riley, tapping on Alice's shoulder to get her attention.

"So you think someone experienced set the trap?" Asked Alice, ignoring Riley.

"_Guys!_" Riley persisted, trying to get their attention.

"What?" Exclaimed Abby, turning to him.

Riley was pointing at an object in the distance, vaguely outlined, but enshrouded by trees and bushes. A fence of some sort.

"Cmon!" Signaled Riley, running off towards the distant fence.

* * *

As Alice and Riley ran anxiously towards the border of the fence, she began to see things more clearly. Some sort of military-type car was inside the fence. The fence was damaged.

[As soon as I saw the fence, I knew it had to be Safe Haven. The military car confirmed things. We had reached the end of our journey to Colorado, for better or for worse.]

As she got closer, things began looking worse. Finally reaching the fence, and wrapping her fingers around the chain link, her heart dropped in her chest.

Destroyed tents. Scattered supplies. Several broken portions of the fence. Dead bodies...some walking, some _completely_ dead. The military car was covered in blood, rusted and chipped.

_Everything was gone_.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey guys, thanks for reading, review if you can! A 1-10 rating is appreciated.

Reader-made OCs:

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen

Next Chapter: Alice's group sorts through the chaos of their situation, as a massive mutant horde charges through the area, putting everyone in danger.


	17. Weary

**Author's Note: **Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update, my iPad went missing, which is what I usually use to write on(I email my writings to my computer to upload). Also, I did my best to revise as many of the early chapters(which I kind of hated) as I could. Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Everyone stood, silent, as the ruins of Safe Haven sat before them. Looking around, Alice didn't need much to know how the others felt.

"I-...Are we _sure_ that's Safe Haven?" Asked Lily, her voice shaky.

"..._What's left of it_, anyways." Replied Slade.

"We need to keep moving...it's getting dark." Announced Dick solemnly, looking up at the clouds above.

"Where the hell are we supposed to go?" Asked Abby, frustrated.

[After all the traveling we'd done, I wasn't sure how much more I could take. We needed somewhere to stay. Somewhere safe. Especially with my the leg the way it was, and our slew of other problems.]

Without other words, the group moved on, through the forest, towards the nearest city.

* * *

It was somewhere late in the night when the group finally reached the large town down the road from the trees, resting comfortably on the mountainside. It was a rather wealthy-looking city despite the decay, and most of the houses were large, or even mansions. It had begun drizzling rain on the survivors, the rain adding to their need to find shelter.

"This one will do," Said Dick, stopping the group at a white gated mansion, "we can stay here for the night."

The group broke into the mansion with relative ease, given the fact that the door had already been broken into. The entire place had been ransacked, eliminating the option of finding supplies. They didn't care much, removing their soaked clothes, and quickly setting their sleeping bags up, which they'd protected from the rain with tarps, but were still somewhat damp. They did their best to lock the gate to the mansion, but decided it was best if they slept in the upstairs rooms just in case.

"Mind if we share a room?" Asked Abby, entering into the bedroom which Alice had set herself up inside.

"It's fine," She replied, getting underneath the covers, "don't really feel like sleeping alone anyways."

"Sweet."

Closing her eyes, Alice felt refreshed to be finally able to rest, but she knew it was going to be short-lived.

"You doing alright?" Asked Abby.

"Relatively. You?" She replied sleepily, without opening her eyes.

"Mostly, it's just...a little exhausting, you know? Constantly searching for somewhere safe"

"Don't have many other options, do we?"

"No, I just wish the universe would give us a break from time to time."

"_Amen to that_."

"Goodnight."

"'Night."

* * *

Mutants were everywhere, ominously stumbling around Alice. They simply ignored her, as if she were one of them. She was in a dark forest, the branches so thick that no sunlight reached the ground. She was alone, only surrounded by mutants, just like after she left Iris.

She searched desperately for a way out of the forest, or other survivors, but there were none. No matter how much she ran, the forest never ended, no sunlight ever appeared. She was alone.

* * *

"Alice, wake up." Abby's voice woke Alice from her nightmare, "we've got a problem."

"Hmm? What's wrong?" She groaned groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"Come look."

Moving downstairs where the others were, she looked out the window. Mutants were everywhere, clawing at the mansion gate, and prowling in the streets. The group was massive, more than they could hope to take.

"Where'd they all come from?" She asked.

"We're pretty sure they're just passing through," Answered Riley, approaching from behind, "hopefully they leave soon. We're completely out of food, we used the last of what we had for breakfast. We saved some for you, it's over there on the table."

"Thanks," Replied Alice, walking over to the dinner table nearby, where a small pile of food waited for her; two protein bars and an orange from a tree they'd found in an orchard a while back.

"If that herd doesn't pass through soon, we'll be in serious trouble." Noted Slade, looking warily out the window, "we need food. If we have to, a few of us can sneak out and get supplies."

"How the hell would we sneak out? Do you see the size of that herd?" Asked Lily, looking exhausted.

"If we cover ourselves in mutant blood, they'll ignore us. It's worked for me in the past." Explained Slade.

"That's crazy, no way I'd do that."

"I'm not asking you to."

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Interjected Dick, "there's no reason to think the herd will stay that long."

* * *

It had been hours, but the herd showed no signs of leaving. The swarm remained in the streets, a good portion of them clinging to the gate of the mansion, teeth grating on the bars.

While the others talked downstairs, Alice spent most of her time reading upstairs, sitting against a backrest leaning against the wall. She put down her book, hearing footsteps drawing to the room.

"Hey," Greeted Slade, peeking his head in, "can we talk?"

"Yeah," Replied Alice.

"Look, I've been thinking..." Slade paused.

"About what?"

"Well, _everything_. It's been a long time since I've been with a group...and well, I guess I thought this one would work out."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Alice...this group's falling apart. I've been through this before..._you've_ been through this before. I always knew me and Jacob were better off on our own, I never should've taken a chance with your group...I guess the whole 'Safe Haven' thing made me think it could work."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Me and Jacob...we're leaving. Tomorrow. We'll cover ourselves in mutant blood, and leave jump the gate. We can survive on our own, and so can you. We'll be miles away by daylight..._We want you to come with us_."

Alice thought for a second, unsure how to respond.

[I'll admit, I almost considered saying yes. Slade was right, I'd been through this before, and I wasn't sure anymore if this time would be different. I wasn't willing to watch another group fall apart again.]

"No. No way."

"Why not?"

"I've been with these people for months, maybe even years...it doesn't matter. The point is, I'm not leaving."

"Alice, you and me are different from the others. They don't have what it takes to survive on their own. They don't know what it's like to watch a group fall apart. You, me, and Jacob can leave, start over again, and survive on our own...you know we can. It's better that way."

"The answer's no."

"You sure?" He sighed.

"Yeah. You may not owe these people anything, but I do. If you want to leave, I won't stop you."

"Look," He concluded, walking out of the room, "just think about it. We'll be ready tomorrow if you change your mind."

She nodded.

* * *

The dim embers from the fireplace were dying out, as the group sat in the living room of the mansion, exhausted and hungry. _Really_ hungry. The herd still hadn't moved away, and it had been over a day, almost all of which without any food whatsoever. The water Alice and Riley had found at the creek was diminished, and the group struggled to conserve.

[At that point we were desperate. The herd wasn't moving way fast enough, and we needed food. Especially Lily.]

"Look, you guys can do what you want," Said Abby, standing up and breaking the silence, "I'm with Slade. We should go out and get supplies, cover ourselves in guts- whatever it takes. I can't stand this anymore. Anyone with me?"

"I'm in." Said Alice.

"Me too." Added Riley.

"I'll go too, if Slade's plan is solid." Added Dick.

"Well then, Slade. How's this gonna work?" Asked Alice.

"All we have to do is chop a few arms off the mutants at the gate, and get as much of their blood on our clothes as we can. We'll hop over the wall at the back, where there'll be less mutants to notice us, then walk into the city, and bring back whatever food and supplies we can find. As long as we don't draw attention to ourselves, the mutants won't notice us." Explained Slade.

"We need to get moving soon," He added, "before it gets too dark."

* * *

"Ugh," Groaned Riley quietly, as Alice helped him smear blood on the back of his sweater using two severed mutant arms.

"You sure this'll work?" Asked Abby.

"Yes," Answered Slade, smearing some of the blood on his face, "make sure you all get your faces covered, we can't afford to be sloppy."

After everyone finished covering themselves in blood, they gathered by the back wall of the mansion's surrounding barrier.

"Remember; stay calm. We'll jump down one-by-one. Be quiet." Whispered Slade, as he climbed over the wall. Alice, Dick, Abby, and Riley soon followed.

Landing softly, Alice stood up, and gingerly followed the others into the street. Mutants began to walk beside them, ignoring them completely. It was completely unnerving, but she did her best to stay calm. A few of the mutants brushed against her and the others, sending a chill down her spine.

"S...shit..." Whispered Riley, beginning to panic. One of the mutants noticed, but still walked past.

"Calm down," Whispered Slade softly, "we need to stay quiet."

Riley breathed deeply, and kept walking.

* * *

Dick signaled for the others to follow, and began walking towards a nearby supermarket. They entered, cautiously searching the aisles for supplies. Mutants were inside with them, brushing past them unnervingly.

Dick was usually calm in situations like this, but the feeling of mutants nearby while unprotected made him nervous. But, he knew it was his only option. In many ways, this group was his now. They looked up to him.

Searching the aisle, he managed to find a cereal box, along with a few minuscule food items. Food was getting increasingly scarce, and settling down was gradually becoming their only option to survive. Of course, if they _could_.

After gathering what he could, he began to walk through the store to find the others, silently avoiding the surrounding mutants. The shelves around him were empty, torn packaging and dry blood on the floor. The smell of flesh and blood on his clothes made him uncomfortable, but he remained collected.

He noticed one mutant in particular, it's orange hair catching his eye from behind. It turned around, revealing herself to be Abby. She and Dick nodded to each other, going off to find the others without a word.

Treading lightly through the store, they quickly found Slade, Alice, and Riley.

"C'mon," Whispered Dick, out of earshot of the mutants, "We'll search more later if we have to, we've got enough to last the night."

The others nodded in agreement, following him out of the store.

* * *

Jacob was tense, awkwardly waiting outside the door of the mansion for his brother and the others to get back, sitting down anxiously. He did his best to avoid everyone but his brother, to no avail. He had been traveling so long, he was more comfortable around the corpses than other survivors. Footsteps sounded behind him.

"Hey," Greeted Leo, "Jacob, right?"

Jacob nodded, as Leo reached for an awkward fist-bump, which he somewhat returned. He didn't remember much from before the outbreak, and social interaction wasn't exactly his strong suit.

"How old are you, by the way?" Continued Leo, squatting down.

"I don't know."

"Me either." Leo chuckled.

Awkward silence filled the air.

"Um, so...how long were you and Slade on your own before you met us?"

"I'm not sure...a year, probably more. I don't really remember what a year is. There were others sometimes...but it never really worked."

"Yeah...I guess I can relate."

_More_ awkward silence.

"So..." Asked Leo, now sitting down beside Jacob, "What's your favorite color?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I guess I just noticed you don't talk much."

"Mhm."

Suddenly, commotion outside stirred, as the others returned from their supply run. Quickly hopping the wall, Slade was met by a hug from Jacob, which he accepted awkwardly. Riley, Abby, Alice, and Dick soon followed, difficult to recognize beneath their bloody disguises.

"We got enough to last another day," Announced Dick, as the others gathered around, "Hopefully we'll be able to leave first thing tomorrow."

"Let's get to work on dinner." Suggested Lily, the others agreeing through body language.

As the survivors began to settle back into the mansion, Leo began to walk upstairs, but Jacob stopped him, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Green." Said Jacob, somewhat randomly.

"Hm?" Leo replied.

"My favorite color's _green_."

* * *

Morales sat on the bed in his room, thinking deeply. He didn't see the point of it all. The running. The traveling. The fighting.

He was done fighting. He wanted to end things his own terms. And so, he waited- waited for the others to fall asleep.

* * *

Slade and Jacob sat on the ground in the room they'd slept in, packing their things. They had decided to leave as soon as everyone else was asleep, take Alice with them, if she wanted. They were no strangers to traveling.

"Slade?" Asked Jacob, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"...I don't want to go."

"Why not?"

"I dunno...I guess I like the people here. Can we at least stay a little bit longer?"

Slade stared at the bag in his hand, thinking deeply. He'd been with groups before. Was this different?

"Fine, we'll stay a day or two longer-see how things go. We might as well at least see if the herd's gone by tomorrow."

* * *

Morales' body was quivering, as he approached the gate of the mansion, eyes fixated on the mutants behind it, their arms reaching through the bars towards him. He couldn't think of anything but the mutants, their constant moaning gripping his thoughts. He wasn't quite sure if he was numb, or if he simply had nothing left to lose. Everything was a blur, as the sound around him seemed to fade away beneath his thoughts.

The others were asleep, no one to stop him. It wouldn't have been the first time Abby kept him from killing himself. They seemed to think he'd get better with time, but nothing felt different from the day his wife was torn apart by mutants. _Nothing_.

Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved the key to the lock they'd used to seal the gate, and inserted it into the lock. Memories of his family flashed through his mind,as he turned the lock, opening the gate.

Morales closed his bleary eyes, as the mutants busted through the gate onto him.

* * *

Alice woke up to the sound of yelling from just outside the mansion. Morales. She jolted awake instinctively, as she had done in the past many times before. She and Abby ran downstairs, to find mutants climbing the stairs up towards them. Mutants had begun to swarm downstairs, where Dick and Leo were sleeping on the couches.

"How the hell'd they get inside?!" Exclaimed Abby, running forward, hacking the nearest mutant's upper skull.

Lana, Jacob, Slade, Riley, and Lily joined them at the top of the stairs in shock.

"We need to get out of here," Yelled Lana over the mutants' collective moaning, "Now!"

"There's too many at the front door," Noted Riley, running down the hall, "We're gonna need to get into one of the bedrooms and lock ourselves in!"

It was chaotic, but Alice could hear gunshots downstairs, likely from Dick and Leo.

Alice and the others followed Riley down the hall, into the large bedroom at the end, mutants following close behind. As soon as everyone else was inside, Riley slammed the door shut, locking it, and moving a dresser in front of it for extra measure. Soon after, mutants began pounding the door relentlessly, shaking it loudly.

"Do we just wait it out?" Asked a breathless Lily.

"We might not have a choice," Replied Alice, "We need to stay as quiet as possible, they might leave after a while."

The group began to settle down, looking at one another. The gunshots beneath them became more sporadic.

"Where's Dick and Leo?" Asked Riley.

"They were sleeping downstairs," Said Abby loudly, "They must've been there when the herd busted in..."

* * *

**Author's Note**: Review, if possible! I'm doing my best to move the series into a darker direction, hopefully this chapter reflects that. Took me a while to write, hope you guys enjoyed it! A simple 1-10 rating always helps.

Reader-made OC Credits:

Abby - Created by The Internet Sass Queen

Leo - Created by Grimrephr


	18. Dead Silence

Dick's heart was pounding, as he and Leo desperately tried to fend off the mutants pouring through the front door of the mansion. They had been sleeping on the couches when they heard Morales' yelling, waking up just in time to see him overrun by the horde.

Running to the sliding glass back door, he yanked it open, as Leo fended off the mutants with his gun. Mutants were rapidly gaining ground on them, as they ran into the yard. However, more mutants were waiting for them just outside.

"Go over the wall," yelled Dick over the noise, "I'll cover you!"

"You sure? You can go fi-" Began Leo, but he had already begun firing his gun at the nearby mutants.

Hoisting himself up onto the back wall of the mansion, Leo did his best to balance on the wall, waiting for Dick, who soon followed, grabbing hold of his hand to pull himself up. However, as he tried to pull himself up, a mutant grabbed hold of his foot, yanking him downwards.

Before the mutant could pull him to the ground, Leo put it down with a gunshot to the head, making it fall down at the feet of the horde now gathering beneath them.

"You ready?" asked Leo over the noise, as Dick joined him standing on the wall. He nodded.

Dick and Leo jumped over the wall, breaking into a sprint from the ground, away from the mansion, dodging the wandering mutants around them. Eventually, they gained enough distance from the mansion, now in the middle of the forest, exhausted and out of breath. They were far enough from the herd to take a rest.

Sitting down on the forest floor, as the adrenaline gradually wore off, Dick began to notice a pain in his shoulder. He looked down at his shoulder, moving his bloodied shirt out of the way. A wave of shock hit him, as he studied the blood-stained cut on his shoulder.

He was bitten.

* * *

Alice and the others no longer heard banging on the door to the bedroom they'd holed up inside, the mutants having been drawn away by the gunshots downstairs and outside. It had been at least an hour since the mutants broke in, and they were fairly certain all the mutants had been drawn outside.

"Is it safe to go out yet?" asked Lily, looking around nervously.

"I think so," said Slade, "but we're still going to need to fight our way out once we get outside."

"It sounded like Dick and Leo went out through the back," noted Riley, "which means the front is probably the clearest exit, as long as we're fast enough."

"You guys ready?" asked Abby, grasping the doorknob. The others answered with a reluctant yes.

As soon as she opened the door, the group quickly but quietly moved downstairs, but it became clear; stealth wasn't an option. Mutants were everywhere, although less than before. Making a run for the front gate, the group powered through the mutants around.

Abby chopping mutants down. Riley shooting. Slade punching. Lily running. Through the chaos of it all, Alice spotted a familiar face among the mutants. Morales.

But it wasn't him. He was a mutant, coming at her, teeth bared. She solemnly raised her gun, putting a bullet through his head.

The group managed to push through the herd, making it out into the street. Instinctively, they headed for the forest.

* * *

Dick and Leo were ecstatic to hear the sound of the others approaching, running to reunite with them in a clearing. Dick did his best to avoid hugging Alice, something that didn't go completely unnoticed.

"You guys okay?" asked Lana.

"Yeah," answered Lily, "we're good. Where's Morales?"

"I saw him when the mutants busted in," Dick said, "he's gone. I think- I think he might've let them in."

"What? Why?" asked an exhausted Lily.

"Does it really matter?" retorted Slade anxiously, "We need to get the hell out of here."

"I say we set up camp in the forest for now," suggested Dick, "me and Alice can go off on our own to find somewhere more secure where we can camp for a while longer."

"You sure it's a good plan to split up?" questioned Slade, "We don't need to find somewhere secure _today_. We could just all go together."

"Yeah, I'm sure. It's not safe for us out here, especially with that herd nearby. Me and Alice are light on our feet, we'll be quick. Alice, you in?"

Alice nodded.

* * *

The idea of splitting up didn't exactly excite Alice, but after what just happened, she figured she could use some time to think. Dick was rather reserved during the walk up the road, quieter than usual.

A large valley-like gulch hung to the side of the room, something they were careful to avoid. It was about 20 feet at it's deepest, with exceptionally steep sides.

The sun was just starting to show signs of rising, as she and him finally came upon something promising; a large neighborhood, far away from the herd of mutants back at the mansion. Perfect to stay in until things settle down. They began to approach, swiftly entering the nearest house to scout.

"Hey," said Dick, speaking for the first time in quite a while, "I'll be right back, 'gonna go see if anything useful's upstairs. If this place checks out, we could brings the others over to set up camp, they're only about a thirty-minute walk away."

"Mhm." Alice replied, continuing to search the downstairs for anything useful, as he walked upstairs.

* * *

Dick's mind was racing. He wasn't ready to die. And yet, that was exactly what the searingly painful bite on his shoulder said. _He was going to die_, as much as he tried to tell himself otherwise.

Numbly walking to the upstairs bathroom, Dick pulled back his shirt in front of the mirror, revealing the roundish mutant bite on his right shoulder. The pain had cooled down somewhat since he was bit, but he could feel the fever setting in. Regret, among other emotions, quickly set in. Why hadn't he been more careful?

He didn't even fully remember how it happened, the adrenaline preventing him from taking notice. It wasn't until he and Leo reached the forest that he realized. He wasn't quite sure why he decided to keep it from the others, perhaps to avoid the drama. What did it matter?

Looking into the mirror, he began to think of how much he'd changed. Emotionally. Physically. Mentally. The ways he'd helped keep the group alive, to keep _himself_ alive. In and odd way, it made since to him. His story was over, and he was beginning to accept that.

Taking one last look at his bloodied and dirty face in the mirror, Dick walked out.

* * *

Alice noticed the unsettling look on Dick's face, as he entered the downstairs kitchen.

[I'll never forget what happened next. I had suspected from the way Dick was acting that something was wrong, but I wasn't prepared for it. Not nearly.]

"Dick," Alice asked, in the most casual way she could, "everything okay?"

"Not-...Not really," Dick replied nervously, "There's something I need to tell you...you should probably sit down."

She began to get worried, sitting down next to Dick on the sofa.

"What is it?"

"Alice...finding shelter isn't the only reason I brought you out here."

"Just tell me."

"It's not really something I can _tell_ you...it's better if I _show_ you."

Pulling back his shirt, Dick revealed the bite on his shoulder. Alice froze.

"W-what happened?"

"It was back at the mansion...I think. Me and Leo were trying to get out...one of them must've managed to get to me. I don't really remember, everything was kind of a blur."

[It all happened so fast. The news hit me like a train. Once the numbness wore off, reality set in; Dick, my oldest friend, was bit. I knew exactly what it meant.]

"...Why didn't you tell me? Or the others?" Alice's voice was beginning to crack, and she had to take a moment to compose herself.

"I don't know...I guess I just wanted it to end quietly, you know?"

She didn't know how to respond, even if she could manage to talk without choking up.

"Alice..." Dick continued softly, placing his gun in her hand, "_you know what I'm asking_."

And so, for the first time since that night back when she first arrived at the cabins, Alice began to cry, gingerly taking Dick's gun into her hand without a word.

"Here," he said, with a somewhat strained voice, removing his hat, and handing it to her, "_I want you to have this_."

She stood, staring at the stained, scarred gray hat in her hands. The same one she and Dick found on their first supply run together. Something strange followed. Leaning forward slowly, she kissed him. It was unexpected, and something she'd never done before, yet it wasn't awkward or strange. It felt right.

"...Thank you-..." Alice said softly, to avoid her voice breaking, "...for everything."

"Thank _you_."

Pulling away, she took a step backwards, into a moment that would be immortalized in her memory forever. He sat there, looking straight at her, as she raised the gun to his head. The sun was rising in the background, her sight obscured by tears. She tried, but her finger seemed almost incapable of pulling the trigger.

He nodded softly, silently beckoning her to fire.

Finally, she closed her eyes, and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was deafening. Then came silence. Dead silence.

[Listening to the silence after the gunshot, my eyes still tightly closed shut, I knew things had changed. After the refugee camp I had promised myself not to let myself get too close to anyone, and in that moment I knew I had failed.]

* * *

The sun's rising was well-needed, keeping Alice warm as she walked back to the others in silence. The gulch she and Dick had passed on their way to the house sat beside her, mutants looming around close by. She was numb at this point, walking like a machine.

One particular mutant got a little too close for comfort, prompting her to pull out her knife. Grabbing it by the arm, she swung to the side with all her strength, pushing it towards the gulch. Once its feet were over the edge, its grip on her shirt was the only thing holding it up, which she quickly broke, sending the mutant falling into the gulch. It didn't kill it, but it wasn't able to climb it's way out.

Panting for a moment, she began to notice a figure in the distance, obscured by the trees. It was walking far too normally to be a mutant. She could hear a mutant coming from behind, forcing her to turn around to confront it, annoyed by its familiar moaning.

However, when she turned around, the mutant was far closer than she expected, just barely too far away to grab her. Suddenly, it fell forward, gripping her feet. She lost her balance, nearly falling backwards into the gulch. The mutant advanced, now grabbing her knees. She slammed her knife into the mutant, but it's skull was too strong to be stabbed from above, leaving the knife imbedded in its head. She unholstered her gun, finally putting the mutant down with a shot to the head, but not before it pushed her backwards.

"Hey!" An approaching male voice called out, just as she fell backwards down the gulch.

She did her best to control her fall, but quickly found it impossible, as she tumbled down the gulch. The adrenaline kept her from feeling the majority of the bumps and slams from rocks she rolled over, her mind in a panic. Suddenly, her head hit something hard. Everything went black.

* * *

Riley had started to become worried, which, at that point, was the only thing keeping him awake. The skin around his eyes was tinted dark from the lack of sleep he'd had lately. He was sore all over. Alice and Dick hadn't returned yet, and that could mean quite a few things, none of them good. He did his best to stop thinking about it, but it'd been hours. They were his two best friends, and the thought of something happening to either one of them made him nervous.

He, Lana, and Abby were sitting together, waiting with the others for Dick and Alice to return. They occasionally had to deal with a mutant or two, but things were mostly quiet.

"Why aren't they back yet?" Whispered Lana in frustration.

"I'm sure they're alright," assured Abby, "they're probably just lost or something. Trust me, they'll show up."

"_They always do_." Riley agreed unsurely.

* * *

Alice...you know what I'm asking.

Thank you...for everything.

_Everything_.

Alice's final conversation with Dick plagued her dazed head, as she sat up inside a tan green tent. She had been covered in a blanket, bandaged throughout her body. Things began to clear in her mind, as she came to her senses. Feeling her head, she found it painful to the touch. Much of her body was full of scrapes, her blonde hair in a fray. She could hear voices and commotion outside, from what sounded like a camp full of people.

"Hello?" She moaned.

"Good," A female voice outside the tent said before entering, "You're awake."

The woman popped her head in, obviously having been monitoring the tent, waiting for her to awake. She was a rather tall, somewhat skinny woman with shoulder-length, choppy, dirty-blonde hair and prominent hazel eyes. Her ski-slope nose hosted a small cut covered by a band-aid, her youthful face betraying the rather mature manner about her. She looked to be in her twenties, but Alice couldn't be sure.

"Who are you?" Alice demanded, alarm in her voice, finding her weapons missing.

"Calm down," the woman said calmly and firmly, "I'm not going to hurt you. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I was walking to-...I got attacked by mutants. I fell."

"Good, good. From the way you're speaking, I don't think you have any significant mental damage. Do you have a group in the area?"

[I thought about telling the woman about the group, but I wasn't quite ready to trust her. She had an oddly disarming way of speaking, as if she was trying to gain my trust, and that made me somewhat uneasy.]

"No...I'm alone."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Alice."

"Thank you, Alice," the woman continued, extending her hand, "My name's Vera Gaskell. One of our supply runners, Dylan, found you at the ravine. You're lucky that fall didn't do any damage too serious."

"Where am I?" Alice cautiously shook the woman's hand, finding it to have a firm grip.

"You're at our camp...a community." Vera said, pausing for a moment afterwards.

"Well Alice..._welcome to Safe Haven_." Vera concluded, with a smile.

* * *

**Author's Note:** My goodness, I crammed a lot into this chapter! It took a little longer than I'd hoped to publish it, sorry! I hope none of you had any massive problem with Dick's death. Like I said, things are getting darker. On a lighter note, I've had the skeleton of the story planned from the beginning, and were getting into a time in the story which I'm very excited for.

p.s. Huge shoutout to FromTheClouds for patiently waiting so long for her OC, Vera, to be introduced.

Reader-made OC Credits:

Leo - Created by Grimrephr

Abby - Created by TheInternetSassQueen

Vera - Created by FromTheClouds


	19. Safety

**Author's Note:** Yeah, I know, it's been ages. I've been pretty busy lately with schoolwork. On top of that, I've been training jiu-jitsu 2-4 hours a day for 5 days a week, so that's taken quite a bit of time as well.

* * *

"You sure you're okay to walk, even with the crutch?" Vera questioned skeptically, as she and Alice walked through the camp.

"Yeah," Alice replied absentmindedly, as she studied her surroundings with wonder, "I'm sure."

It was all so confusing to her, so much to digest at once. There were more people at Safe Haven than she'd ever seen in one place after the outbreak. People were busy, helping around the camp, entering and exiting tents, and looking curiously at the mysterious, bruised young girl exploring their camp with a makeshift crutch beneath her arm. She was unarmed, as Vera had taken her weapons before she awoke, something that made her uneasy.

"We-...I came upon some ruins a while back," She stuttered, still somewhat dazed, "I thought-"

"Our old camp was overrun by walkers after a group of bandits attacked the fences," Vera explained, "everyone who made it out decided to regroup here until we find somewhere permanent to stay."

As they approached the border of the camp, a small border came into view. It was a long line of vehicles parked into a makeshift wall around the camp, aided by a few extra wood pieces and other debris. People kept watch along the wall, standing atop the cars with guns. Something about those guns made Alice uneasy.

"So," Alice asked as Vera led her along the wall, "are you the leader here?"

"Oh, no, that would be Daniel. You'll meet him soon."

[I liked Vera, she was well-spoken. But I knew better than to trust easily, so I decided to keep the others a secret until the right time. I figured they'd bee worried as hell about me, but there wasn't much I could do about that.]

"Where is he?"

"He and a lot of the others are having breakfast, I'm bringing you there now to introduce you."

Vera led her to a group of people sitting in a circle, most of them on logs or rocks, eating various foods. They all turned around, eyeing her curiously.

There were so many of them. A young brunette woman with dark brown eyes styled in a boyish tank top. Two children, probably around Jacob's age. A somewhat short teenager around Riley's age, with a gray beanie covering his thick brown hair. At least fifteen people, something she found oddly overwhelming.

"Everyone," introduced Vera, "this is Alice. She's new here."

Each of them gave her an individual greeting, some more awkward than others. Before long, one man in particular approached her, extending his calloused hand.

"Nice to meet you," the man greeted, shaking her hand, "I'm Daniel."

"Nice to meet you too," she reciprocated, "I heard you run things around here."

"That's correct, I'm glad to see you've woken up. Perhaps you can meet my girlfriend when she gets back from the supply run."

"Yeah." Alice replied awkwardly.

Daniel was a tall man, somewhat overweight. He had a tan, somewhat intimidating face, that could easily change from threatening to charming with a simple expression. His cheeks were particularly red, and stood out from the rest of his face, atop which dark black hair sat, covered by a baseball cap stained from dirt and sweat. His eyes were dark brown, fitting in with the rest of his face.

"Until then, let's find you somewhere to sleep."

* * *

Riley sat alone by the fire, absentmindedly staring into the flames, lost in thought. The others were asleep in their bags, but he couldn't fall asleep, despite how tired he felt. He couldn't quite pinpoint why he couldn't sleep, he was used to being worried. How was this any different? He did his best to convince himself that Dick and Alice would be back any minute, and things would be back to normal.

Then again, what was the point? He was struggling to find a reason to try anymore. Back when things started, the idea of dying scared him. Nowadays, it seemed almost a luxury. He knew the others felt the same, Dick and Alice included.

His life before the outbreak seemed almost like a dream, now a distant memory. A different life. He had begun to forget a lot of the memories he used to think of often, the simple moments he remembered from his life before had begun to fade, replaced by the everyday horrors. He began to think of the people he used to know. His friends. His family. Thinking of what might've happened to them made him frown.

It had been over a week since Alice and Dick went missing, and they had shown no signs of being in the area. They did their best to search the area, but he knew that wouldn't help much, even with Slade's tracking experience. Alice and Dick were gone.

He had never really expected to miss Alice like this. It was difficult to describe why, but she occupied his thoughts, even over Dick. There was something special about her, something he missed. Something he probably wouldn't see again.

* * *

Alice woke up inside her tent, awake from another nightmare. She was safe, but Dick and the others were constantly on her mind. She hadn't told Daniel or Vera about the others yet, and she was planning on it when the time was right. It had been a week since it happened, but Dick's death was still imprinted on her mind. She'd never had someone's death affect her like this, and it was eating away at her. She was used to being resilient, but that seemed harder than ever. Pushing her demons to the back of her head wasn't as easy anymore, but it was the only way to survive.

She had begun to adjust to life at Safe Haven, gradually introducing herself to the other residents. Getting dressed, she stepped out of her tent with slight discomfort from her rapidly-healing injuries, greeted by several other residents. Inside Safe Haven there was a sense of safety. Of family. But she knew better than to let that disarm her.

Not finding herself particularly hungry, she decided to skip breakfast, having woken up late anyways. She longed to go past the makeshift wall and search for the others, but she knew nighttime would be the only time quiet enough for her to sneak out, and the idea of wandering through the forest at night didn't exactly excite her. Plus, she had begun to bond somewhat with Vera, as she learned more about the community. She had considered telling Vera about her group, but for reasons unknown even to her, the idea of the community knowing about her group made her uneasy. Why wasn't she able to trust them? After all, if they wanted her dead, they would've left her in the ravine, she figured.

Awkwardly waving to a few residents or mumbling a greeting, she passed by one reddish-brown-haired man in particular, bright green eyes almost glaring at her. Then again, his classically handsome face almost always locked in a look of caution. He was tall, with ruggedly messy hair, one of the few people at Safe Haven that she found to be rather shady. Then again, she knew better than to judge by appearance.

[Almost everyone at the community was friendly to me, with the exception of a few, more reserved residents. Francis, in particular. He wasn't necessarily hostile, he seemed to have the same mood around me around the others. I never really saw him much during those first few days, he mostly stayed inside his tent writing. Vera seemed to be the only person he interacted with on a regular basis.]

* * *

Lana did her best not to stare at Riley, as she and him worked to collect firewood just outside camp. Ever since they found Dick's body in the city, Riley's demeanor had changed. They had been camping in the forest for a week, searching for Alice. At this point, she and Riley were the only thing keep the group from moving on, and even she had doubts. It was obvious that he was trying to act calm, but his frustration was showing through. She hadn't seen him this sad before. He and Dick appeared close before Dick died, best friends, even. They exchanged friendly banter quite often, often bringing out the more cheerful sides of each other.

But as usual, her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of approaching mutants. Only two, but still the smell made her cringe. She equipped her lengthy hunting knife from it's sheath, ready to lunge.

"I'll take the one on the left." She said, prompting a nod from Riley, who was now ready with a knife of his own. They no longer used guns to kill mutants unless it was absolutely necessary, given the scarcity of ammunition nowadays.

Riley made the first move, slamming the rightside mutant backwards into a tree before finishing it with ease. Lana followed, stabbing her knife through her mutant's eye with similar ease. Her proficiency with a knife was improving.

"I think I'm starting to get pretty good with this..." Lana said, toying with her knife.

Riley gave an awkward "mhm," and went back to work without a word.

* * *

Alice decided it was best to get to sleep, having been drawing for the past hours or so into the night. She wasn't particularly impressive as an artist, but it was entertainment nonetheless. Her current journal was gradually getting crowded, with entries and drawings all throughout the pages. Putting the book down, she closed her eyes, and began to drift away. However, she was suddenly taken out of her sleepy haze by a noise outside. Footsteps. Of course, she figured it was likely someone going to the bathroom, but footsteps always made her uneasy at night. The thought of a mutant walking through the camp at night, looking for a victim to devour, made her uneasy. She coaxed these worries, and closed her eyes again.

However, she noticed something odd about the footsteps. They kept getting farther, keeping consistent even after she heard the sound of someone slipping beneath the wall around the camp, going much farther into the forest than one would to relieve themselves. Eventually, they faded out of earshot. Five minutes passed, but no returning footsteps came. Perhaps they reentered through a different part of the wall. Ten minutes passed, still no returning footsteps. What would someone be sneaking out of the camp for, not to mention at night? These thoughts kept her awake longer than usual, but she eventually drifted away into slumber.

* * *

Dylan instinctively kept his hand close to his gun, as he slowly approached the nearby camp. This was one of the times he regretted his decision to run his supply runs alone. He didn't hear much chatter, but it didn't appear that the strangers had detected his presence. He considered turning around, and walking back to Safe Haven with a word. After all, he had no idea who these people were, or what they were capable of, only that there were more of them than him. Nonetheless, he pushed these thoughts aside, and stepped into view of the strangers.

The strangers quickly drew their guns, although more defensively than otherwise. A disheveled young man with lengthy jet black hair seemed particularly skeptical of him, being the first to speak, cutting Dylan off before he could introduce himself.

"If I were you," he warned, holding his gun with hesitation, "I'd back up."

"I'm not here for trouble, I saw the smoke from your camp..." Dylan began to explain, drifting off at the end of his sentence, a bad habit of his.

"And?" The young stranger replied.

"...And I was wondering if you'd like to come back to my camp...we have food, water, supplies-"

"Who are you, exactly?" A man to the left interjected.

"My name's Dylan."

"This camp of yours- does it take in newcomers often? Any recently?" The young man in front asked, seeming to have been lost in thought for the last few seconds.

"Um, yeah. Actually, we had one a few days ago. A girl around your age."

Suddenly, the man's face lit up.

"Was her name Alice?" He asked, giving looks to the rest of his group.

"It might've been, I'm not really-"

"Take us back to your camp."

* * *

Alice found herself unnaturally bored as she walked through Safe Haven, absentmindedly inspecting the walls. The walls were quite crude, and a walker could easily crawl under one of the cars without anyone to keep watch. The thought of what could happen if a herd ever passed by made her worried. Her thoughts were disrupted by a noise from across the camp. She noticed a small crowd begin to form near the front of the camp, accompanied by commotion. People began to enter the camp, first Dylan, then several newcomers which she couldn't see very well through the crowd. She walked to the back of the crowd, then froze. She began to recognize the newcomers one-by-one. Riley. Lana. Abby. Jacob. Slade. Leo. Lily.

She and Riley made recognizing eye contact, before quickly running into a hug.

"Where the hell have you been?" He asked with relief.

The others were ecstatic, greeting her warmly. However, she soon realized that people were watching, and that no one in Safe Haven knew of her previous group. Vera stepped forward, looking strangely less confused than Alice expected.

"Alice, do you know these people?" She asked.

"There, um, may be a few things that I need to explain...This is my group." Alice replied.

Vera extended her hand to Riley, oddly not showing much surprise.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you...welcome to Safe Haven. I'm Vera, you must be Riley."

"How do you know-" Alice began, surprised.

"I read your journals while we were waiting for you to wake up after we first found you. I've known about your group since you got here."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I figured you'd tell me when you felt comfortable." Vera switched her gaze to Alice's group,"C'mon, let's get you all something to eat. But first, I need to introduce you to Daniel. He's the leader around here."

Vera gestured for them to follow, then led Alice's group to Daniel. Still mystified, Alice and Riley exchanged glances, then soon followed.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Reviews are always welcome, I'll be updating more often from now on, hopefully!

Reader-made OC credits:

Vera - Created by FromTheClouds

Francis - Created by FromTheClouds

Abby - Created by TheInternetSassQueen

Leo - Created by Grimrphr


	20. Just Keep Walking

**Author's Note: **Yay, 20 chapters! Sorry it's taken so long, hopefully I'll be posting more often now. However, I have to write an entire book for school, so my attention is divided at the moment.

* * *

BAM! BAM! The gunshots stung Alice's ears, as she slashed with her knife, desperate to keep the mutants away. Things became more chaotic, as she lost sight of Gina and Dylan among the mutants. As she continued fighting, she began to notice a small opening in the mutants, just to the side. Charging through several lone mutants, she managed to escape the bulk of the herd, escaping to the side. Climbing atop a nearby van, she did her best to kill the mutants from above with her knife, bending over the side.

"Gina, Dylan! Over Here!" She yelled, signaling to the two survivors still fighting among the group of corpses.

Gina and Dylan made a run for it, shoving several mutants to the side. Alice cleared a path for them with her gun, doing her best to save ammunition. Once the mutants to the side of the van were cleared, Gina and Dylan joined her atop the van, slashing at the corpses below. The herd had now surrounded them, the arms of the mutants grabbing at their ankles. The entire neighborhood was littered with corpses, some alive, some dead.

"How the hell are we gonna get out of here?" Gina yelled over the noise.

"We'll have to wait it out," Dylan said loudly, "they ought to lose interest eventually."

"That'll take too long," Alice rebutted, "we should try to find a way out."

"With a herd this size? Are you kidding me?"

"If we cover ourselves in their blood," Alice explained, gesturing for them to help her hoist a dead mutant onto the van, "they'll think we're one of them. As long as we're fully covered, we ought to be able to walk through the herd."

Dylan and Gina gave her doubtful looks.

"Trust me," she assured, "it'll work."

The three survivors got to work, hacking apart the corpse of a mutant atop the van, being careful not to fall, and covering themselves in blood and insides. Before long, their clothes were completely covered in blood, their faces painted as well. Alice looked at the others for approval to go into the herd.

"Don't look at _me_," Gina said, "_you're_ going in first."

Alice slowly descended down the windshield of the van, lowering herself into the herd cautiously. The mutants eyed her curiously, but didn't attack. With one glance back at Gina and Dylan she began to slowly walk towards the forest, nearing the edge of the herd. Slowly, the other two began to follow, looking nervously at the mutants as they entered the herd. The corpses around them were mostly oblivious, but occasionally turned towards them, causing Gina to grip her gun tighter. Eventually, all three reached the forest, out of the herd.

"Let's hurry," Dylan said, leading Alice and Gina back towards Safe Haven, "the others are probably worried about us."

"That's the _last_ time I go with you two on a supply run." Gina joked.

* * *

Slade rested his chin on his knuckles, as he contemplated his next move, his eyes surveying the chess board for the best option. Jacob sat across from him in the tent, impatiently anticipating his next move.

"Stop taking so long!" Complained Jacob eagerly. Slade grinned, and with one swift, confident move, put Jacob in check. His brother was getting harder and harder to beat, as he rapidly grew in skill.

"Check." He announced.

Before his brother could respond, Lana poked her head through the tent flap without warning.

"Alice's back." She said plainly, then walked off.

"We'll continue this later," Slade said, leaving his brother alone in the tent.

* * *

Allen and Mal kept their heads low, as they scouted the mysterious border of vehicles from afar with binoculars. From what they observed, a small road was next to the camp, sprinkled with snow from the night before. The camp border was patrolled by two survivors at all times, and there seemed to be a good number of people within the camp.

"How many you think are in there?" Asked Mal.

"Too many to take as it is," Allen replied analytically, "we'd need to take them by surprise."

"What about the sentries?"

"We don't need to worry about that. Once we take out the walls, the biters will do the rest. If we got enough blood on us, we'll be able to sneak in and take what we need without too much trouble."

"You sure this will work?"

"I'm sure. Let's get back to the others."

* * *

Alice settled into her bed, tired from the day. She enjoyed the feeling of brisk winter air in her lungs. Or was it winter? She couldn't tell, but enjoyed the snow nonetheless. Winter had always been her favorite season, between Christmas, the snow, and the nostalgia, it was simply perfect for her. Snow had just started to show up a week or so previously, around two months after she arrived at Safe Haven.

[As much as I loved winter, it was still a concern. Safe Haven couldn't stay a small camp in the woods forever, especially not with Lily's baby on the way. The others had only found out just after we reached Safe Haven, but I think most of them had suspicions prior. All it would take was a big herd, and the camp would be overrun. The border of cars could easily be crawled under or passed over by looters. We had been keeping our eyes out during our supply runs for a new place to live, but nothing stood out. The area was mostly decayed neighborhoods.]

Despite feeling exhausted before, Alice found it difficult to sleep. Hours passed, yet she stayed wide awake, occupied with her thoughts. Tossing and turning, she eventually decided it was useless. Her sleep schedule had been quite twisted lately, often taking naps mid-day.

Suddenly, she began to hear a noise. Footsteps, just like the ones she'd heard that night just after arriving. She'd heard them before a few days back, following the same pattern. She slightly opened her tent flap, just enough to see the person pass by. It was too difficult to see. The person climbed over the border of vehicles, and began to walk off into the night.

This time, however, she wasn't willing to give things up. Letting her curiosity drive her, she cautiously exited the tent, following the figure, who was already over the wall. Lining herself up behind a car, she squatted down to see underneath. She could see the person's boots casually walking away. Maybe it _was_ just someone going to the restroom. Yet once again, the footsteps kept going. Past several of the nearest trees. Past the small gulch near the road. It appeared that the figure was simply taking a walk down the road. Puzzled, Alice began to crawl through the space under the car, into the forest.

It was becoming difficult to see the mysterious person anymore, as they continued to casually stroll down the road, ignoring the mutants around them. Alice was forced to follow them cautiously from behind trees, being careful of mutants in the dark. Luckily, it was a bright evening, with a shimmering moon to give her light. The disappearance of man completely destroyed light pollution, making the stars were easy to see. It appeared that whoever she was following was a man, from what she could tell. What was wrong with them? Several mutants came quite close, but whoever it was simply kept walking as if nothing happened. Finally, one of the mutants touched him.

As if something had triggered inside him, the shadowy figure spun around, quickly dispatching the attacker with his knife. Alice quickly ducked behind a tree, as the man was now looking directly in her direction. Eventually, she peeked back out. The man was gone.

Puzzled, Alice began to walk back. It wasn't safe out it the forest anyways. She tried to minimize the crunch of snow beneath her feet, now keeping an eye out for anyone who might be nearby. She continued walking back down the road, looking back often. Several mutants were following her, but she was walking too fast for them to catch up. Becoming accustomed to the footsteps, she failed to notice a different set until it was too late.

Suddenly, a strong arm grabbed her by the shoulder. Yelping in surprise, she turned to face glaring eyes, bright even in the dim atmosphere. Francis?

"Francis?" She whispered, catching her breath.

"Why were you following me?" He replied loudly, with a somewhat angry tone. Several mutants were approaching, but he didn't seem to notice.

"I- I didn't know what you were doing...I thought maybe you were-"

"Next time stay in bed." Without another word, he walked away, back toward camp. He had an oddly unconfident tone in his voice, sounding somewhat nervous. Maybe even embarrassed.

"Wait," she whispered, struggling to keep up with his quick pace, "what were you doing out there?"

"H- why do you care?"

"Normal people don't take walks at night with five mutants following them."

"Just forget this happened. It's not a big deal."

Alice reached out, and tried to grab him by the shoulder. He jolted around, surprising her. Apparently he didn't like being touched. He relaxed, shrugging her away with his shoulder.

"Good night," he said, walking off into the forest instead of taking the road, "Alice."

"But-"

"_Good night_."

* * *

Riley pushed his messy hair from his face, groggily opening his eyes. He hated the mornings, especially in winter. Being someone who got cold easily, he simply wasn't designed to wake up in the freezing air of the winter mornings. After about thirty minutes, he finally sat up, groaning. As much as he didn't feel like moving, the cold air forced him to make effort to get dressed.

He was hungry, but the thought of exiting the tent weighed down his desire for food. He laid back down, but was quickly disturbed by Alice, who peeked her head in.

"Breakfast's almost gone," she announced, "you coming?"

"Mhm." His eyes were barely open, his voice low and tired.

"Sometime _today_, if possible." Alice grinned, and walked away.

* * *

Allen stood in his camp, working to pack up a tent. Josiah approached from behind, prompting a nod of greeting.

"This camp you told us about-" he said, "How many people?"

"I'd guess about thirty," Allen replied, "if not more."

"You really think we can take 'em?"

"If we're smart about it. We strike at night, quick and easy. They won't see it coming. We let the biters do the work for us. Once it's over, we go in and take what we need."

"It's too risky, if you ask me. We've got enough supplies to last. Why bother?"

"This is how we survive, Josiah. There's enough loot at that camp to last us weeks."

"W- what if we just joined them?"

Allen turned around.

"Is there a problem, Josiah?"

"No, it's just-"

"This is happening _tonight_, with or without you on board. We can't afford to be soft. You may be fifteen, but you still have to contribute. That means helping us take down this camp."

"Yeah...I know."

"You better."

* * *

Lily's day passed quickly. She took a nap, as usual, ate dinner, then lied down to sleep. She found herself being tired more and more often nowadays, something she didn't like. The others said it was natural because of her pregnancy, but the feeling of being a liability to others made her nervous. Between the vomiting, sleep, and pain, pregnancy wasn't as she expected. She and Jay had discussed it before the outbreak, but she'd never really known what it would be like.

She began to lose herself in the sound of crickets, drifting into sleep.

* * *

Mal nervously inserted the keys into the minivan, rehearsing the plan over and over again in his head. It was dark, but even in the night he could see the border of cars in the distance down the road. The smell of the blood on him and his companions pierced his nose, but from the way the biters around were ignoring them, it was working.

"You know the plan," Allen urged, "we don't have time to wait."

"Give me a second," Mal snapped, "okay? I don't see you volunteering to drive the van."

Allen fell silent.

Taking a deep breath, Mal started the van, and began to drive, slamming on the gas pedal. Once the van had gained enough speed, he opened the door, and jumped out, letting the adrenaline guide him.

Hitting the ground with force, he rolled along the snow, but his heavy padding and jackets kept him relatively unharmed aside from a couple scratches. Then, just as he regained his breath, he heard the crash. The car had slammed directly into the border, smashing a hole through the wall of cars, and setting off the car alarm, catching the attention of all the nearby mutants.

With that, Mal and the others began to move in.

* * *

Car alarms. Gunshots. Yelling. Alice's mind was racing, as she was abruptly woken up by chaos in the camp. Normally, she was dazed upon waking, but tonight she was wide awake. Running out of the tent, she looked around with bewilderment.

Somehow, a car had smashed through the border of vehicles surrounding the camp, turning the circle of cars into a noise machine made of car alarms. The sound was difficult to hear over, but the movement of people in the camp told her everything she needed to know. Flashlights were waving all over, and the only noise that prevailed over the car alarms were the gunshots. Most of the mutants were pouring in through the breach, while some crawled underneath the wall from all around.

As soon as she came to her senses, she became far more aware of the mutants around her. Running to the side of the camp, she climbed atop a car on the border to get a better view. Even with her flashlight, it was difficult to tell which bodies were mutants or other humans, but she did her best to shoot those that she knew for certain were corpses. But in the end, until the car alarms shut off, there was no stopping the onslaught of mutants. Several of the other Safe Haven residents had also gotten atop the cars, firing at the mutants inside.

Among the chaos, she spotted Vera and Dylan desperately trying to navigate their way to the border. They didn't appear to have flashlights, pushing their way through the mutants.

"Hey," Alice yelled over the noise, shining her flashlight on them, "over here!"

The two survivors made their way through the camp, running to the border of cars as Alice covered them with her gun. Finally climbing atop, they turned to Alice, who was still firing with her gun.

"Alice," Vera yelled, "we have to go! There's too many of them!"

"What about everyone else?" Alice yelled, not diverting her attention.

"They'll meet us out on the road!" Vera grabbed Alice, who sighed, and followed her off into the forest with Dylan.

Alice took one last look back at the ravaged campsite, then kept running.

[And just like that, I was back out on the road. I wasn't even sure how it happened. All I knew was that I needed to make sure the others were okay. For all I knew, everyone from my group was dead. Of course, I knew that was unlikely, but it was difficult to keep my thoughts under control. But above the others, there was one person I was most worried about - Riley. Maybe it was because I had been with him the longest. Maybe it was because I trusted him. Maybe something else. Whatever it was, I knew I needed to make sure he was okay.]

* * *

Riley kept his knife raised, as he, Daniel, Slade, and Lily made their way through the chaos of the overrun camp. He saw Daniel say something, but couldn't hear over the sound of the car alarms. Finally, they reached the border of the camp. Lily went first, climbing over as the others covered her. Next went Daniel, then Slade.

As Greg climbed the border, Riley noticed something odd. One of the nearby mutants was moving strangely, less chaotic than the rest. Suddenly, it hit him. The group that broke through the wall was after their supplies, probably covered in blood to stay undetected. He didn't have much time to think however, and followed the others over the border after a moment's hesitation.

As he and the others ran off into the forest, Slade hesitated.

"You guys go on," he ordered loudly, "I need to find Jacob."

"Slade," Riley said with little confidence, "he'll be fine. We need to stay together."

"Just go, I'll meet you at the road!" Without a word, Slade headed back to the camp.

* * *

Lana did her best to keep from panicking, as she made her way out of the overrun camp. She had managed to drag a mutant into a tent and cover herself with its blood, going undetected through the herd. She'd noticed other people doing the same thing, those who she didn't recognize. She couldn't be sure, but they were likely the group who attacked the camp. But, she was too far away from them to attack.

As she walked through the hole in the border, she noticed a body on the ground, being devoured by a group of mutants. Nathan. She hadn't known him all that much, but as far as she knew, he was only fifteen. One of the several bodies she'd recognized on the way out.

Pushing her anxious thoughts to the side, she focused on her footsteps, ignoring the chaos around her. But, she couldn't help but wonder where she would go from here. Would she find the others? Who was still alive?

No. Worrying wouldn't do any good, she told herself.

Just keep walking.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Out of all the recent chapters, this one was the easiest to write. I felt a lot less writer's block than before, and I felt pretty motivated. Unfortunately, I have to write an entire book for school by early May, which means that will require most of my attention. Review(1-10 Rating is appreciated) if you can, please!

Reader-made OC Credits:

Abby - Created by TheInternetSassQueen

Vera - Created by FromTheClouds

Francis - Created by FromTheClouds


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